Sports Journalism Board

Representatives from private industry, professional sports, college athletics and print and broadcast journalism comprise the advisory board for the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism at Penn State.

Through the board, the Center plans to tap important resources in order to gauge and respond to trends in the industry. Prime beneficiaries of the board include students, faculty and administrators in the College of Communications. Board members include alumni and friends of Penn State and the College, as well as others who support the goals and principles of the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism.

Board Members

• Anne Riley (1964, 1975), member of Penn State Board of Trustees (chair)
  Riley, an English teacher living in Boalsburg, Pa., graduated from Penn State in 1964 with a bachelor's degree in English and earned her master's degree in English from Penn State in 1975. She is active as an Honorary Lion Ambassador and received the Lion's Paw Medal for service to the University in 2004. Her father, Ridge Riley, was the longtime leader of the Penn State Alumni Association and founder of the University's iconic "Penn State Football Letter."
• Douglas F. Allen (1973)
  Allen graduated from Penn State in 1973 with a bachelor's degree in labor studies and industrial relations. He played football at Penn State and was a second-round draft pick by the Buffalo Bills, for whom he played two seasons in the NFL. He has served as national executive director and chief negotiator for the Screen Actors Guild.
• Rachel Bachman, sports enterprise reporter, The Wall Street Journal
  Bachman, who lives in Portland, Ore., graduated from the University of Michigan with a bachelor's degree in English and communication. She focuses on investigations, issues and trends in sports, particularly college athletics.
• Chris Bevilacqua (1986), Sports Media Ventures
  Bevilacqua is the chairman and CEO of CAA Sports Media Ventures and lives in New York City. He graduated from Penn State in 1986 with a bachelor's degree in marketing. He was a co-founder of College Sports TV. He also won an Emmy Award for his work as an independent sports TV producer in the category of "Best Live Special" for the 1988 Summer Olympics.
  

• Todd Blackledge (1983), college football analyst, ESPN/ABC
  Blackledge is the color analyst for ESPN's Saturday night college football telecasts and lives in Canton, Ohio. He graduated from Penn State in 1983 with a bachelor's degree in speech communications. He was Penn State's starting quarterback for three years, leading the program to its first national championship, and played seven seasons in the NFL.
  
• Jimmy Cefalo (1978), sports director, WPLG-TV, Miami
  Cefalo is a sports director and anchor for WPLG Local 10 and works for the Miami Dolphins as a radio play-by-play announcer. He lives in Miami Beach. He graduated from Penn State in 1978 with a bachelor's degree in journalism. Cefalo played for the Miami Dolphins for seven years and caught the second-longest touchdown pass in Super Bowl history in Super Bowl XVII.
  
• Tim Curley (1976, 1978), athletic director, Penn State
  Curley is Penn State's director of athletics and lives in Boalsburg, Pa. He graduated from Penn State in 1976 with a bachelor's degree in health and physical education and earned his master's degree in counselor education in 1978. Curley has directed Penn State to more than a dozen NCAA championships and nearly 40 Big Ten Conference crowns. He served as president of the National Association of College Directors of Athletics in 2005-2006.
  
• Guido D’Elia, president, Mind Over Media
  D'Elia is the owner, president and senior strategist for Pittsburgh-based Mind Over Media and the director of branding for football at Penn State. He helped initiate the popular "student whiteouts" and "whitehouses" at Beaver Stadium.
  
• Al Dame (1955), president and CEO, Dame Broadcasting, Harrisburg, Pa.
  Dame, now retired, was the founder and resident of Dame Broadcasting and lives in Mechanicsburg, Pa. He graduated from Penn State in 1955 with a bachelor's degree in arts and letters.
  
• Ken Denlinger (1964), retired sports writer, Washington Post
  Denlinger, retired from the Washington Post and living in Frederick, Md., majored in economics and minored in mathematics at Penn State. he worked for The Daily Collegian, serving as assistant sports editor, and has written or co-written seven books, including "For the Glory."
• Fran Fisher, retired play-by-play voice of Penn State
  Fisher is principal in Fran Fisher & Associates and lives in State College. Fisher retired as the play-by-play voice of Penn State football at the end of the 1999 season. He was inducted into the Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 1997. He attended Bethany College (1941), Penn State (1942) and the University of Pittsburgh (1952), majoring in speech and English.
  
• Nick Infante, founder, College Athletics Clips
  Infante is the founder and editor of College Athletic Clips and lives in Chester, N.J. He graduated from the University of Connecticut in 1973 with a bachelor's degree in economics and earned his MBA from UConn in 1978.
• Jon Jackson (1990), assistant director of athletics, Duke University
  Jackson graduated from Penn State in 1990 with a bachelor's degree in mass communications. He worked in the Penn State sports information department for three years prior to graduation and worked at the University of Florida and Southern Methodist University before arriving at Duke.
• Kimberly Jones (1991, 1993), reporter, YES Network
  Jones, a reporter and sports radio talk show host living in Bergen County, N.J., graduated from Penn State in 1991 with a bachelor's degree in journalism. She earned her master's degree in exercise sport and science in 1993. She is a member of YES Network's Emmy Award-winning pre- and post-game coverage.
  
• Jim Laslavic (1973), sports director, KNSD-TV, San Diego
  Laslavic graduated from Penn State in 1973 with a bachelor's degree in business administration. He earned three varsity letters as a linebacker for the Nittany Lions and then enjoyed a 10-year NFL career with the Detroit Lions, San Diego Chargers and Green Bay Packers.
  
• Paul Levine (1969), author and screenwriter
  Levine, a novelist and screenwriter living in Studio City, Calif., graduated from Penn State in 1969 with a bachelor's degree in journalism and earned his Juris Doctor (cum laude) from the University of Miami in 1973. He received the Penn State Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2003. His latest novel is "Illegal."
  
• Bill Lyon, sports columnist, The Philadelphia Inquirer
  Lyon, who was inducted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 1999, was an award-winning columnist who covered Penn State regularly for years, beginning in 1973. He earned his bachelor's degree in English from the University of Illinois.
  
• Ira Miller (1966)
  Miller, a freelance writer living in Morton Grove, Ill., graduated from Penn State in 1966 with a bachelor's degree in journalism. He crafted an illustrious and respected career as a sports writer with the San Francisco Chronicle, focusing on the NFL. Although retired from that paper, he remains active with his freelance work and stays involved with The Daily Collegian, where he started his sports writing career at Penn State, as a mentor for sports writers.
  
• Jeff Nelson, assistant athletic director, Penn State
  Nelson is the assistant athletic director for communications at Penn State and lives in State College. He graduated from Indiana University in 1983 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. Nelson received CoSIDA’s 25-year award at the organization’s 2010 convention.
  
• Dana Pennett O’Neil (1990), sports writer, espn.com
  O'Neil, who primarily covers college basketball for ESPN, graduated from Penn State in 1990 with a bachelor's degree in journalism. She worked for The Daily Collegian for four years as a reporter and assistant magazine editor. After Penn State, her award-winning career has included stops in Philadelphia and Jacksonville, with a stint at the Philadelphia Daily News before moving to ESPN.
  
• Avani Patel
  Patel is a reporter, most recently working for the Chicago Tribune and living in Chicago. She graduated from Columbia University in 1997 with a bachelor's degree in history. While attending Columbia, Patel spend her time as a writer, editor and managing board member of the Columbia Daily Spectator. She has recently taken time off and is traveling the world.
  
• Charlie Pittman (1970), senior vice president, Schurz Communications
  Pittman is the senior vice president of newspapers for Schurz Communications and lives in South Bend, Ind. He graduated from Penn State in 1970 with a bachelor's degree in business administration and earned his master's degree from Gannon University in 1976. Pittman played four years of football under coach Joe Paterno at Penn State and was named an All-American and Academic All-American in 1969.
  
• Jon Saraceno (1979), sports columnist, USA Today
  Saraceno, a sports writer for USA Today since 1984, lives in Round Hill, Va. He graduated from Penn State in 1979 with a bachelor's degree in journalism. The Associated Press Sports Editors honored him as one of the nation's top five sports columnists in 2000, and Saraceno's award-winning and varied career has included coverage of numerous sports and work in many mediums -- including radio and television. He worked for The Daily Collegian while at Penn State.
  
• Lori Shontz (1991), associate editor, Penn Stater Magazine
  Shonts is the senior editor for the Penn Stater alumni magazine and lives in State College. She graduated from Penn State in 1991 with a bachelor's degree in English. She worked at The Daily Collegian as a student and remains involved as a mentor. In 2002, she won the Associated Press Sports Editors contest with her five-part series titled "Fast Forward: The Rise of Kenya's Women Runners and How Sports Can Change the World."
  
• Claire Smith, news editor, ESPN
• Ron Thomas, director of journalism and sports program, Morehouse College
  Thomas graduated from the University of Rochester in 1971 with a bachelor's degree in political science and earned his master's degree from Northwestern University in 1973. He specialized in writing about the racial dynamic of sports and has written extensively about the lack of black head coaches, both male and female.
  
• Tom Verducci (1982), senior writer, Sports Illustrated
  Verducci, a senior writer for Sports Illustrated living in Belle Mead, N.J., graduated from Penn State in 1982 with a bachelor's degree in journalism. He also works for the MLB Network and has authored several books about baseball.
  
• Kelly Whiteside, sports reporter, USA Today
  Whiteside is a staff writer for USA Today and lives in Montclair, N.J. She graduated from Rutgers University in 1990 with a bachelor's degree in English and journalism and earned her master's degree from Columbia University in 1991. Whiteside was an adjunct professor at Columbia University's School of Journalism from 1998 to 2004 and was president of the Football Writers Association of America in 2002.
  
• Dan Wilhelm (1979)