WREG-TV Channel 3 has endowed a $25,000 scholarship in the name of Richard Ranta, dean of the College of Communication and Fine Arts.
“We wanted to pay homage to Ranta’s many contributions to education and to the community,” said Ronald A. Walter, executive vice president and station manager of WREG-TV Channel 3.
Ranta has been an off-camera judge for WREG’s “Knowledge Bowl,” an academic quiz show pitting Memphis high schoolers against each other for scholarship money, since the show’s inception in 1987.
Walter said WREG sought Ranta to be a judge for the program because of his “long history” of contributions to education and to the community.
“We needed someone knowledgeable, objective and thoughtful in case students had disputes on the show,” Walter said. “We needed someone who was respected.”
Laurie Snyder, assistant to the dean of undergraduate programs in the College of Communication and Fine Arts, agrees that Ranta was a perfect fit for the judge’s role.
“He’s very fair and a good listener,” Snyder said. “He really enjoys solving problems.”
WREG-TV announced the $25,000 scholarship in May 2001 during the Knowledge Bowl awards ceremony.
Ranta is the founding dean of the College of Communication and Fine Arts. He has acted as dean since the college was created in 1977. He is the chairman of the Memphis and Shelby County Film and Television Commission.
Ranta also works behind the scenes at nationally known events, such as the Grammys and Latin Grammys.
The $25,000 endowment will function as principal funds that accrue interest over time, according to Becky McCoy, the scholarship stewardship coordinator for The U of M Development Office. The amount accumulated from the interest will provide the actual scholarship money, which McCoy said will hopefully be $1,250 for the 2002-2003 academic year, and will hopefully increase in the following years.
The scholarship will be given to incoming freshmen or graduate students majoring in communication. Incoming freshmen must have a high school GPA of 3.0, and graduate students must have a cumulative college GPA of 3.25.
U of M faculty who work with Ranta are happy to see Ranta honored.
“I cannot think of anyone more worthy,” said Snyder, who has worked with Ranta for five years. “He’s an absolute inspiration.”
