Roy H. Park was born in Dobson, N.C., on Sept. 15, 1910. He began
his career as a correspondent for two weekly newspapers in western North
Carolina at age 12. After graduating from Dobson High School, he worked
his way through N.C. State University as a writer for the Associated
Press in its Raleigh bureau. He was also publisher of the NCSU paper, The
Technician.
After graduation, he became director of public
relations for the N.C. Cotton Growers Cooperative Association. In 1940, he
bought his first periodical, Cooperative Digest, and two years later moved
to Ithaca, N.Y., to buy an advertising agency specializing in agricultural
clients.
His next business venture led to the formation of Hines-Park Foods
with partner and restaurant critic Duncan Hines. Hines-Park merged with
Procter & Gamble in 1957, and Park served as a senior P&G executive until
1962.
In 1962, Park began his company, Park Communications,
with the acquisition of WNCT-TV in Greenville, N.C. In 1977, he became the
first broadcaster to acquire the then legal limit of seven television
stations, seven AM radio stations and seven FM radio stations. He bought
his first newspaper, the Daily Sun, in Warner Robins, Ga., in 1972.
Park was chairman of the Ithaca College Board of Trustees. He was
also on the UNC-CH School of Journalism and Mass Communication Board of
Visitors and the board of directors of its foundation.
In 1989 Park received the North Carolina Award, the state's
highest civilian honor, and Ithaca College dedicated its $12 million
communications building in honor of him. He died in 1993.
In 1997 The Park Foundation of Ithaca, N.Y. bestowed a $5.3
million gift on the UNC-CH School of Journalism and Mass Communication. In
the Fall of that year, 24 Park Fellows, 12 master's and 12 doctoral
students were admitted to the school. Each student received an award
equivalent to full tuition and fees. In addition, the master's fellows
will receive annual $10,000 stipends plus $4,000 over two years to help
with the thesis, research, and travel expenses for conferences. Doctoral
students will receive annual stipends of $17,500 and $6,000 over the
three-year program for dissertation and travel expenses. And on top of all
this, The Park Foundation bestowed another $1 million dollars to equip a
state-of-the-art journalism and mass communication library.