Dr. Charles “Chuck” Sherman, FOX ‘60, was a broadcasting trailblazer whose influence is still making an impact at Klein College of Media and Communication. The Charles E. Sherman Memorial Scholarship was established in 2015 by Sherman’s wife Elaine Sherman, EDU ‘61, and the couple’s children to support sophomores in the Media Studies and Production Department who exemplify the educational and professional excellence that Sherman exhibited during his decades-long career in academia and the broadcasting industry.
Chuck Sherman, who passed away in 2005 at age 71, graduated from Temple with a bachelor’s and master’s in radio-television, a major that was developed before the university dedicated a school to communication and was originally housed in the Fox School of Business. Sherman balanced several commitments as a student including serving as an overnight disc-jockey for WHAT Radio, a university football announcer and a graduate teaching assistant.
After earning a doctorate from Wayne State, Sherman became a professor and associate chairman of the Department of Communication Arts at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and professor and chairman at the Department of Telecommunications at Indiana University.
Sherman had an extensive history in television broadcasting and was the general manager of WHOI-TV in Peoria, IL and WTRF-TV in Wheeling, WV. He went on to become the executive vice president for television for the National Association of Broadcasting (NAB) and served as president of the NAB Educational Foundation. He was affectionately known within the organization as “Mr. Television.” He was also past president of the Broadcast Education Association.
Students who receive the Sherman Scholarship are given the award from their sophomore year until they graduate, provided that they maintain a grade point average of 3.0 or above. Elaine Sherman says that when she was deciding on an undergraduate university, Temple’s combination of prestige and affordability was a major selling point. Now, she wants to help talented students who are majoring in Media Studies in Production at Klein who are in financial need.
“We always thought how important it was to give back,” Sherman says. “There are those of us that have enough and for Chuck and I, without Temple, I wouldn’t have been able to go to college. He wouldn’t have been able to go to college.”
The Sherman Scholarship has already been awarded to two media studies and production students. The first, Mina Tatar, KLN ‘18, CLA ‘18, received the scholarship in 2015 and is currently a digital planner at UM Turkey. Teyanna Stone, a senior who graduates in December, has received the scholarship since 2018. She is an intern with The Boom Room studio in Philadelphia, a member of The Music Business Club at Temple and serves as a teaching assistant for Kimmika Williams-Witherspoon, an associate professor in the School of Theater, Film and Media Arts. Stone’s involvement allows her to integrate her professional interests in audio production with her theater minor and music certificate. She says that the Sherman family has greatly contributed to her open-mindedness and drive as a Temple student.
“Thinking about Chuck and his legacy and also the Sherman family’s legacy, it motivates me to create a legacy of my own,” Stone says. “Because I have aspirations to really make my own mark in the entertainment industry in many fields.”
Sherman believes that it is important for older generations to lend support to younger generations. Giving back, she says, is “essential, if you can do it,” and she encourages those with the means to assist students to commit to the cause.
Stone, who recognizes the impact that the Shermans’ gift had on her Temple experience, says that such scholarships by generous donors are “not just money, it’s a sign that you care.”
“Getting the scholarship over the course of my career at Temple has just shown me that people are really kind and they care about the investment of the future,” Stone says. “And it’s just a motivation for me as a young person to make sure that I’m making my mark and that I’m building foundations for the generation that comes after me.”
To find out how you can support Klein students or establish a scholarship, please contact Karen Gallagher, asst. dean, development and alumni relations at [click-for-email]or go to giving.temple.edu/kleincollege.