- By Mimi Mays, Staff Writer -
Two years ago, as of this summer, Professor Alan Buck taught his first course at Meredith College. This became his fourth professorship at a higher-ed institution (following William Peace University, Campbell University, and the University of NC at Chapel Hill), and ultimately his second full-time teaching position. As many professors do, Buck has a master’s degree—his in Interactive Media from Elon University—but twenty years ago he began his career in broadcasting without so much as a bachelor’s degree.
A younger Alan Buck first worked as a teleprompter operator part time at a local news station in Georgia, WRDW-TV, and was soon promoted into the news department. He was thrust into the field, shooting and editing footage for broadcasts, a responsibility he continued to welcome when he moved on to stations like FOX Carolina and WLFL-TV in Raleigh, among others. After moving to Greensboro, NC, he became the general manager of Spartan Television while attending UNC-G full-time to complete his hard-earned bachelor’s degree in Media Studies, graduating in 2010. This propelled him into academia, and he started teaching courses in subjects like Media Management, Video Production, Journalism, and Mass Communications.
While teaching at William Peace University, Professor Buck met Dr. Teresa Holder, who was the Assistant Dean at Peace at the time and is now the head of Meredith’s Communication department. Five years later, Dr. Holder recalled his skills and passions, and knowing what Meredith’s communication department was looking for, hired Buck, first as an adjunct, and then as a full-time professor. Buck specializes in digital media, not only in the classes he teaches but in other ways he’s working to build and grow the department. Currently in the works is his vision to establish an entity for a variety of student media productions, a project we can expect to see as soon as this fall semester. Professor Buck reports to love his fellow faculty, his students, and Meredith College, so hopefully we won’t see the last of him anytime soon.