2015 NATAS New England Gold and Silver Circle Inductees Announced

The Gold and Silver Circle Awards are a special recognition of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) to honor television professionals who have made significant contributions to their community and to the vitality of the television industry.
 
The Boston/New England Chapter is delighted to announce that George Hale (WABI-TV; Bangor, ME) will be inducted into the prestigious Gold Circle, honoring more than 50 years of broadcast excellence and community commitment.

Silver Circle inductees with more than 25 years of distinguished service to broadcasting include: the team of Mike Gorman & Tommy Heinsohn (Comcast SportsNet New England; Boston, MA), Carol Greenwald (WGBH; Boston, MA), Karen Holmes Ward (WCVB; Boston, MA), Jim Madigan (WGBY; Springfield, MA), and Ann Nyberg (WTNH; New Haven, CT).

These television pioneers have set industry standards and have made significant contributions to the New England community.

The Gold and Silver Circle Awards are sponsored by Subaru of New England. The Boston/New England Chapter of NATAS is very grateful to Ernie Boch, Jr., who has generously supported both the Gold & Silver Circle Awards and the Emmy Awards for many years.

THE GOLD CIRCLE HONOREE

GEORGE W. HALE:

More than sixty years ago, sportscaster George Hale thought his stay in Bangor would be temporary.  Today, he is still behind the microphone.  Hale began his broadcasting career while a member of the U.S. Navy during the Korean conflict, entertaining the wounded. George graduated from the School of Radio at Radio City, NY in 1952.

George’s reliability, dedication and excellence made WABI Radio and Television the premiere sports stations in Maine for many years. His style and delivery has continued to attract listeners and viewers even to this day, after 62 years of uninterrupted service to the sports fans of Eastern and Central Maine.  George has broadcast more than 3,000 football, basketball, and baseball games at the high school and college level.

A highlight of his career came in 1983 when he was awarded the ECAC Media Award.  This award is presented only once each year to a media representative, voted on by the nearly 400 colleges and universities, which make up the Eastern College Athletic Conference.  George is the only State of Maine media representative ever to be so honored.

Today, George is co-host of the daily George Hale/Ric Tyler Show on WVOM radio, and delivers weekly sports commentary on WABI TV, both in Bangor.

George Hale has also found time to serve the State of Maine on the staff of several Maine Governors.  He was the Chairman of the Maine Gambling Control Board and the Chairman of the Maine Harness Racing Commission.  He has also served as board of director for a number of local organizations.  He is a member of the Maine Broadcasting Hall of Fame and is the only non-graduate of the University of Maine to receive the Black Bear Award.  He has won sportscaster of the Year award multiple times in Maine, and was inducted in to the New England Basketball Hall of Fame.

George was married to his wife Jeannie for 35 years prior to her death in 2007 and together they raised nine children.

THE SILVER CIRCLE HONOREES

MIKE GORMAN:

A veteran of the U.S. Navy, Gorman began his broadcasting career at WNBH in New Bedford, Massachusetts. He started in 1975 changing tapes and worked his way into the on-air side for high school sports. He eventually moved over to WPRO radio in Providence, RI where he did Division 1 College basketball and was the voice of University of Rhode Island.  Following that, the WPRI-TV station in Providence had a weekend anchor job open and, lo and behold, Gorman snagged that job. He served as sports director at WPRI-TV in Providence and as television play-by-play man for the Providence College Friars.

During the 1980s, Gorman was the primary announcer for ESPN's "Big Monday" Big East Game of the Week and became such a critical part of the league’s success that he was featured prominently in ESPN’s 30 for 30 documentary “Requiem for the Big East” in 2014. Gorman also called the so-called “Billion Dollar Game“ featuring a near upset by No. 16 seeded Princeton versus No. 1 seed Georgetown that established the NCAA tournament as “must watch” sports television.
He has called the NCAA basketball tournament on CBS; tennis at the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics with Bud Collins on NBC; the NBA Playoffs on TBS; and Handball at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

Now, Gorman is entering his 35th year (alongside broadcast partner Tommy Heinsohn) as the Play-by-Play announcer for the Boston Celtics on Comcast SportsNet.

A five-time Emmy Award winner, Gorman was inducted into the New England Basketball Hall of Fame in 2004. Gorman grew up in Dorchester and attended Saint Brendan's Elementary School, Boston Latin, and Boston State. He is married with a daughter.

TOMMY HEINSOHN:

Tommy Heinsohn donned a Celtics uniform from 1956-1965 and was a principal member of eight championship teams. Heinsohn was selected as the NBA's Rookie of the Year in 1957, was a member of the All-NBA Second Team four times and was honored with six NBA All-Star Game appearances. He averaged 18.6 points and 8.8 rebounds in 654 regular season contests, and 19.8 points and 9.2 rebound in 104 post-season encounters. Heinsohn was elected to the Hall of Fame as a player in 1985-86.

Four years after his retirement as a player, Heinsohn was appointed Celtics head coach. Like his playing career, Heinsohn's coaching tenure was punctuated by prosperity, as he directed the 1974 and 1976 squads to World Championships; won Atlantic Division crowns five times; was voted the NBA's Coach of the Year in 1973; and collected a 427-263 (.619) regular season record and a 47-33 (.588) playoff mark.  Heinsohn was elected in 2015 to the Hall of Fame as a Coach, becoming just the fourth person to enter the Hall as a player and coach.

When his coaching days were over, Heinsohn found his next calling with the Celtics – covering them on television.  Heinsohn is now entering his 35th year (alongside Mike Gorman) as a key element to Celtics basketball on Comcast SportsNet. During this stretch, he was also the primary analyst for CBS' NBA coverage for seven years and provided commentary for NCAA basketball for four years on CBS. 

When Heinsohn is not covering basketball, he can be found painting. Heinsohn is an accomplished artist whose works have graced art shows across the nation. He is also a chartered life underwriter in the insurance field.

Heinsohn was born in Jersey City, NJ. He attended St. Michael's High School in Union City, NJ and Holy Cross in Worcester, MA. At Holy Cross, Heinsohn averaged 22.1 points and 15.5 rebounds in 81 contests over four years. During his senior season, in 1955-56, he amassed 27.4 points and 21.1 rebounds in 27 outings. He was a territorial first-round choice of Boston in 1956.

CAROL GREENWALD:

Carol Greenwald is Senior Executive Producer of Children’s Programming at WGBH Boston, where she has produced some of the best-loved and most-watched children’s series on television in a career that has spanned over 30 years.

A self-professed bookworm and fan of children’s literature, Carol has forged a career that combines her passion for books with her skill using television as a powerful teaching tool.

Carol co-created and serves as Executive Producer of Curious George, a WGBH-Universal partnership based on the exploits of H.A. and Margret Rey’s mischievous monkey. The series—with its focus on teaching science, math, and engineering—premiered on PBS in 2006 and now is one of the top-rated programs on American television for children between the ages of 2 to 5.

Carol also co-created WGBH’s multiple Emmy and Peabody Award-winning Arthur, and continues to serve as executive producer for the series, which is now the longest running childrens’ animated show on television. Based on the popular books by Marc Brown, Arthur promotes children’s emotional and social development through the lens of an eight-year-old who just happens to be everyone’s favorite aardvark. The series, educational materials, and online games explore the challenges young viewers face—from maintaining friendships to dealing with anxieties—by modeling positive social behavior that emphasizes empathy, communication and respect.

Carol brought Susan Meddaugh’s beloved Martha Speaks books to PBS in 2008, serving as creator and executive producer for this series that supports vocabulary development in preschool children through the adventures of a talking dog.

She also was Executive Producer of WGBH’s Arthur spin-off, Postcards from Buster, and Time Warp Trio (based on the popular book series by Jon Scieszka), which aired on NBC. She was one of the creators of Long Ago & Far Away, and alternatively served as Project Director, Series Editor, and Producer of that series, which showcased fairy tales, fables, and stories of timeless appeal.

Carol has been honored with five national Emmys (for Arthur and Curious George), and a George Foster Peabody Award (for Arthur). But as a mother of two, she is proudest of the commendation that recognizes her commitment to reaching, and teaching, children. These include awards from the US Environmental Protection Agency for raising awareness about asthma on Arthur and from the National Braille Institute for Arthur’s portrayal of a blind character.

JIM MADIGAN:

Jim Madigan joined WGBY in December 1990 as Senior Producer for Public Affairs and now serves as Director of Public Affairs.

In addition to hosting WGBY’s  “Connecting Point” public affairs series, he is producer and host of “The State We’re In,” a weekly, half-hour “Connecting Point” segment broadcast each Friday focusing on local, state and national politics.

Madigan has produced and/or moderated numerous major political debates, including a January, 2010 program with the Massachusetts U.S. Senate candidates in the special election to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Senator Kennedy.
He has moderated a total of seven gubernatorial debates in 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2014, a 1996 debate in the U.S. Senate race between Sen. John Kerry and
Gov. William Weld and the Springfield U.S. Senate Debate between Sen. Scott Brown and Elizabeth Warren in October, 2012.

Prior to joining WGBY, Jim was a reporter and back-up anchor for WGGB-TV/ABC 40 in Springfield, MA, where he specialized in political reporting and Massachusetts State House coverage. This included the 1988 Republican National Convention in New Orleans and the presidential campaign of Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis. Before that, he was News Director for WLDM Radio in Westfield/Springfield, MA.  Prior to his broadcasting career, Jim served on the Staff of the Minority Leader of the New York State Senate in Albany.

In 1992, Jim was honored with both a New England Regional Emmy® and National Public Service Emmy® as a co-producer of the documentary
“Out of Work,” a co-production by WGBH-Boston, WHYY-Philadelphia and
WGBY-Springfield.

In the community, Jim has been active in his church, Saint Mary’s Parish in Westfield, and has volunteered with WOW- Westfield on Weekends  - but above everything else - Jim enjoys spending time with his wife of 32 years, Lena, an administrative manager for a local law practice, and their son, Jim IV, a 2015 Summa Cum Laude graduate of Westfield State University and a teacher at Holyoke Community Charter School.

ANN NYBERG:

Ann Nyberg is WTNH-TV’s longest-serving Anchor~Reporter in station history. Ann has been a storyteller her entire life, starting with a diary her Mother gave her for Christmas when she was 8 years old. That diary is the basis for Ann’s first book called “Slices of Life, A Storyteller’s Diary” which has just been published.

She has interviewed the most famous and everyday folk. She has been voted “Best News Anchor” for a decade in “Connecticut Magazine’s reader’s poll. She hosts her own on- air and online show called "NYBERG", which she developed to tell people's stories in long format.

Ann began her journey in broadcast journalism immediately following graduation in 1979 from Purdue University, where she earned a degree in journalism. She worked in television news in Indiana and Oklahoma before making Connecticut her home. She and her husband have three daughters and two dogs, Henry Watson and Mr. Trip Meeshu.

In 1993, she founded the Toy Closet Program at Yale-New Haven Hospital. Thousands of toys and other items are given to children of all ages upon admittance to the hospital to help ease their trauma. A lover of the arts, she is a founding Board of Trustees member of the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center. She is the only honorary female member of the Walter Camp Football Foundation which raises thousands of dollars for charity every year.

Ann's website, Network Connecticut spotlights people and places and small businesses all over her state.  Ann is also a columnist for Coastal Connecticut Magazine. Ann believes in connecting to her community and does that these days through Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, and Instagram, you'll find her "always on" in the name of a story.

KAREN HOLMES WARD:

Karen Holmes Ward is WCVB's Director of Public Affairs and Community Services as well as host and executive producer of CityLine, the station's award-winning weekly magazine program which addresses the accomplishments, concerns and issues facing people of color living in Boston and its suburbs.  Her career as an award winning journalist has spanned nearly four decades and has brought her to far reaching places across the globe including Israel, the Soviet Union, and South Africa.  

CityLine has been a recipient of the Associated Press Massachusetts/Rhode Island ‘Best’ Public Affairs Program and numerous Emmy nominations.  Many notables including Louis Farrakhan, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Congressman James E. Clyburn and Barry Scheck, co-founder of the Innocence Project, have been interviewed by Holmes Ward for CityLine.  In addition, from the world of stage and screen, Oscar winners Lupita Nyong’o, Octavia Spencer, Lou Gossett and Denzel Washington as well as Oscar nominees Chiwetel Ejiofor, Oprah Winfrey and Quvenzhané Wallis have been interviewed as well. 

Holmes Ward also oversees WCVB’s public service and community outreach efforts including the station’s work on Extreme Makeover: My Hometown, raising awareness about the need for affordable housing in the Greater Boston area, and WCVB’s first-of-its-kind web-based initiative, Commonwealth 5. This on-line project promotes philanthropy by matching viewer-donors with non-profits via the Internet.  CommonWealth 5 was nominated for a National Emmy Award.  WCVB’s community service efforts during and following the Boston Marathon attack was honored with a National Association of Broadcasters ‘Service to Community in Television’ award.

Earlier in her career, Holmes Ward worked at WEEI as a news writer and at WILD Radio as news director before coming to WCVB. 

Over the years, Holmes Ward has served on the Board of Advisors for the Greater Boston Food Bank, Pine Street Inn, MSPCC (Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children) and the YWCA of Boston Aswalos House Transitional Housing Program.  She is currently on the Board of Tenacity, a local organization that provides a Pathway to Post Secondary Success for under-served urban youth.

A graduate of Boston University’s School of Public Communications (now COM), Holmes Ward has received numerous awards for her work in the community including the Boston Jaycees Ten Outstanding Young Leaders Award; National Association of Black Journalists Region I Journalist of the Year; Big Sister of Greater Boston Achievement Award; Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts President’s Award; Women of Courage and Conviction Award from the Greater Boston Section National Council of Negro Women, Inc. among others.

For more information or to purchase tickets, contact Jill Jones at 617-283-6314 or visit www.newenglandemmy.org