[26] Award-winning Alumnus Returns to Lead MTSU Electronic Media Department

FOR RELEASE: Aug. 3, 2011
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Dr. Roy L. Moore, 615-898-5872 or rlmoore@mtsu.edu

Award-winning alumnus returns to lead MTSU Electronic Media Department

MURFREESBORO—Multi-award-winning alumnus and entrepreneur Billy Pittard is the new chairman of MTSU’s Department of Electronic Media Communication.

Dr. Roy L. Moore, dean of the College of Mass Communication, made the announcement today, celebrating Pittard’s return to campus as an educator while also honoring the outgoing chair, Dr. Dennis Oneal, for helping to build a nationally recognized department.

"The search committee, EMC faculty and I were highly impressed with Mr. Pittard's credentials and his vision for moving the department to new heights of excellence and even greater prominence. We are all looking forward to working with him," Moore said. "I also want to express my appreciation to Dr. Oneal for his fine work as chair during the last four years, including significant strides in enhancing technology with the new $1.4 million Mobile Production Lab."

A native of Murfreesboro, Pittard received his Bachelor of Science in Mass Communication from MTSU in 1978, majoring in advertising.

"I'm thrilled to be moving back to my hometown and joining MTSU’s faculty,” Pittard said. “It almost feels like I've been preparing for this opportunity for my entire career. I'm very excited about the prospects for taking the EMC department to the next level.

“Electronic media are no longer the exclusive domain of large media companies; these days, essentially every business is a publisher of electronic media, and the possibilities are almost endless. That's a very exciting proposition for our students, our University and our community, and that's what the EMC department is all about."

Pittard’s extensive resume includes 10 years in television news, more than 200 TV network brand identities around the world, 30 documentary films and interaction design and content for a wide range of media platforms. He also has won five national Emmys, among more than 900 industry awards, and received several patents on his work. A member of the college’s Board of Professional Advisors and part of its Wall of Fame, Pittard has been recognized as an MTSU Distinguished Alumnus for Professional Achievement.

He currently is president of Pittard Inc., a consultancy that develops innovative applications and production of digital media and helps companies with branding, marketing communications and media-product development. He also worked with Lynda.com for the last three years as programming adviser, executive producer for documentary films and vice president of content, was founder and president of Pittard Sullivan and served as manager of design for KCBS-TV in Los Angeles and art director for WNGE-TV/WKRN-TV in Nashville.

To learn more about Pittard’s work, visit his website at www.foryourinspiration.net. To learn more about the Department of Electronic Communication at MTSU, visit www.mtsu.edu/emc; a special update on the Mobile Production Lab is available at http://bit.ly/MTMobileLab.


Founded in 1911, Middle Tennessee State University is a Tennessee Board of Regents institution located in Murfreesboro and is the state’s largest public undergraduate institution. In September 2011, MTSU will celebrate its 100th year anniversary with special events and activities throughout the year — kicked off by a Blue-Tie Centennial Gala on Friday, Sept. 9.

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For MTSU news and information anytime, visit www.mtsunews.com.

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Editors: For a color jpeg of Pittard, email Gina E. Fann at gfann@mtsu