Thomas O. and Darlene Wood Ryder Pledge $1.5 Million to Forever LSU Campaign, Benefiting Manship School of Mass Communication

L to R: John Maxwell Hamilton, Dean of LSU’s Manship School of Mass Communication, LSU Chancellor Michael V. Martin, Thomas O. and Darlene Wood Ryder, LSU Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Astrid Merget, and LSU Foundation President and CEO, Maj. Gen. William Bowdon.

October 27, 2008

LSU alumnus Thomas O. Ryder and his wife, Darlene Wood Ryder, have made a pledge of $1.5 million to the Forever LSU Campaign for the establishment of professorships, and an eventual fellowship, within LSU's Manship School of Mass Communication.

The Ryders have divided the gift to LSU into two parts. In the first part, eight endowed professorships will be established within the Manship School with $500,000 of the total pledge to LSU. The second part of the gift is in the form of a $1 million life insurance policy. When this portion of the gift is realized, it will endow a Ph.D. Fellowship in Mass Communication. Mr. and Mrs. Ryder have a long history of leadership on behalf of the Manship School and have previously funded two professorships within the school prior to this latest commitment to LSU.

"This truly deserves to be called a leadership gift," said John Maxwell Hamilton, dean of the Manship School of Mass Communication. "Our goal is to maintain national leadership in the study of media and politics. Tom and Darlene are themselves leaders by providing a pair of substantial gifts that support this objective by funding both research and graduate student support."

Thomas O. Ryder is the former chairman and CEO of Reader’s Digest Association, serving in that capacity from 1998 through 2006. He is a former Daily Reveille editor, and currently serves on the Manship School's Board of Visitors. He was inducted into the Manship School of Mass Communication Hall of Fame in 1987.

One of the most respected magazine publishers in the country, Tom received the Magazine Publishers of America Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007. Darlene Wood Ryder is a leader in business as well, as she is the managing partner of a group of family restaurants in Connecticut. The Ryders live in New Canaan, Conn., and have four children.

LSU's Manship School of Mass Communication offers the nation’s only graduate program focused exclusively on media and public affairs. This innovative program encompasses a wide range of disciplines, from journalism to advertising, political communication to public relations, sociology to history.

Thomas O. and Darlene Wood Ryder's gift to the Manship School furthers the mission of the Forever LSU campaign, a special fundraising effort undertaken by LSU to raise more than $750 million for the university by the end of 2010. The Forever LSU campaign involves every college, academic department and program within the LSU community, and all friends and alumni of LSU are encouraged to join the campaign for LSU's future. To find out how to help, visit www.foreverlsu.org.

Scott M. Madere is the director of public relations for the LSU Foundation. For more information on this story, the Manship School of Mass Communication or the Forever LSU campaign, contact Scott at smadere@lsufoundation.org or 225-578-3826.