Bill Fine

Bill Fine spent his entire 43-year career in local broadcasting, most recently retiring from his hometown station and Hearst Television flagship WCVB Channel 5, Boston’s dominant News Leader. Fine was just the fourth president and general manager of WCVB. Appointed to the position in 2005, Bill oversaw the top-rated station in Boston for fifteen years, in addition to the station’s award-winning website wcvb.com, WCVB’s digital station MeTV Boston, and its other mobile properties. This was the third time Bill called WCVB home since 1982, having served in key sales and management roles earlier in his career. Prior to returning to WCVB, Bill served as president and general manager of WBAL-TV, Baltimore’s #1 station and NBC affiliate, from 1998-2005.

Under Bill’s leadership, WCVB consistently remained Boston’s news leader and was routinely honored by the industry’s most prestigious organizations with their coveted national, regional and local awards. Of note, the station has captured the regional Edward R. Murrow Award for ‘Overall Excellence’ nine out of the past eleven years, with National Murrow ‘Overall Excellence’ wins in 2014 and 2012. WCVB has captured the National Headliner Award for ‘Best Newscast’ in the country four of the past five years, won the New England Emmy for ‘Best Newscast’ nine of the last eleven years, and was recognized as ‘Station of the Year’ for the sixth year in a row by the Massachusetts Broadcasters Association. In addition, WCVB has won six Gabriel Awards as the ‘Nation’s Best Television Station’ during Bill’s tenure, making it the most decorated station in America. WCVB was also presented with a prestigious Service to America Award in 2014 by the National Association of Broadcasters Education Foundation for its exemplary efforts to serve the Boston community in the wake of the 2013 attack on the Boston Marathon.

In the Boston community, Bill has served on many boards and leadership councils and is currently on the board of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, Home Base Leadership Council, Executive Council of the Catholic Schools Foundation Inner City Scholarship Fund and the Dean’s Advisory Board of Boston University’s College of Communication. Among the many other civic and charitable boards Bill has served on: The United Way of Massachusetts Bay, The Johns Hopkins Hospital Board of Visitors, and the Board of Directors of the 2012 Washington/Baltimore Olympic Committee.

In the broadcasting industry, Bill holds positions on the boards of several national broadcasting and entertainment industry leadership organizations. He is a past Chairman of Television Bureau of Advertising’s (TVB) Board of Directors, and past Chairman and current board member of the Massachusetts Broadcasters Association. Bill previously served eight years on the ABC Television Affiliates Association Board of Governors Executive Committee as the Entertainment and Programming Chair; and was past Chair of the TVB’s Sales Advisory Committee and the Maryland/DC/Delaware Broadcasters Association; all in addition to several other industry boards.

Bill is the 2020 recipient of the inaugural TVB (Television Bureau of Advertising) Excellence Award Career Achievement and won the New England EMMY for Commentator/Editorialist. He was named 2016 Broadcaster of the Year by the Massachusetts Broadcasters Association (MBA), the organization’s highest honor. In 2013, Bill was named ‘General Manager of the Year’ (top 25 markets) by Broadcasting & Cable Magazine and was named to the Boston Business Journal’s inaugural ‘Power 50’ list of most influential Bostonians. At WBAL-TV, Fine was honored as Baltimore’s Best CEO in 2000 (Baltimore Magazine).

Bill is a Massachusetts native and summa cum laude graduate of Boston University’s College of Communication, earning a bachelor of science in broadcasting and film. He resides in the Boston area with his wife, Gail, and has three children, all of whom are employed in Boston; Ben Rawitz (and his wife April), Ali Fine, Jeff Fine and is now a proud grandfather with the birth of his grandson Lex in 2018.

Mark Walton

Over his 40-year career, Mark Walton has been an entrepreneur in the media and entertainment space, has held senior leadership positions at TV and film companies and has been a management consultant to several public and private sector entities seeking to engage with Africa, the Caribbean, and their Diaspora.

Mr. Walton is currently President of Sales & Marketing for One Caribbean Television, a TV network providing news and entertainment shows to viewers in North America and the Caribbean. Prior to this, he was a senior member of the team that launched The Africa Channel in the US and the UK.

Mr. Walton oversaw websites dedicated to African news and travel for Moguldom Media; he was a syndicator of over fifty TV shows, such as New York Undercover and he has been a distributor of independent films, including Julie Dash’s Daughters of the Dust. He began his career at the CBS Television Network and held management positions in sales and marketing.

Mr. Walton has a passion for teaching and has been an adjunct instructor in media management for more than 20 years at Fordham University and is now teaching at The New School as a visiting associate professor of media management.

Mr. Walton received the Distinguished Alumni Award from Boston University’s College of Communication, where he earned his BS in journalism and currently sits on the Dean’s Advisory Board. He also holds a Master’s from the Yale School of Management and has served on the school’s Board of Advisors.

Carlos Bardasano

Carlos R. Bardasano is president of W Studios, the new production joint venture between Univision Communications Inc. (UCI) and internationally acclaimed producer Patricio Wills (Reina del Sur and La Viuda Negra). The new production company develops and produces primetime series exclusively created for Latin America.

Stephanie Quinn

Stephanie Quinn is an adjunct professor teaching writing for communication. She has more than 15 years of experience in strategic communications across high tech, higher education, and healthcare.

Quinn currently serves as director of annual and leadership giving at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, where she builds donor engagement and loyalty through integrated marketing campaigns and storytelling. Prior to joining Spaulding, Quinn oversaw direct marketing for the annual giving team at Boston University. Before making the move to the non-profit industry and a career in fundraising, Quinn worked in high tech marketing at EMC Corporation (now Dell EMC).

Nichelle Cross

In my role as the Internship Coordinator, I manage the internship funds donated by our generous alumni. In addition to managing the internship funding, I will also be developing a guide for students navigating through the internship process. I will also be assisting the Director with employer relations endeavors and collecting data for the first destination survey.

My inspiration for working in career services is to support students on their journey to achieve their career goals.

Hometown: East Hartford, CT

First Job: Counselor in Training, Boys & Girls Club

Advice to students: Do not wait until your senior year to apply and complete an internship. Locate your career services office and learn about the tools and resources that are available to you ahead of time.

Favorite Career Guide: Internship Guide

Education:

M.S. Business Administration, Fisher College 2020

B.S. Criminal Justice, Fisher College 2019

Heather Fink

I have 12 years of experience at seven private and public university career centers. In my role as the Director of Career Services, I manage employer and alumni relations as well as decide on initiatives that our office will put forth. It is my goal to infuse equity and inclusion into all our career programming, events, and services.

I feel fortunate to work at BU College of Communications because of the school’s emphasis on experiential learning. At BU COM, students can participate in student-run agencies (PRLab and AdLab) as well as student organizations (BU News Service, BUTV10, PRSSA, AdClub etc.) which provide hands-on experience in their field of interest.

Hometown: Manhattan, NY

First Job: Entrepreneur; I sold temporary tattoos on the beach over the summer and made $100 at age 8

Advice to students: Don’t wait until your last year at BU to interact with our office. There are many things you can do to prepare for a career after graduation beyond applying. Spend the time getting to know people in your industry and ask them what they like and dislike about their jobs. This will help you clarify your own career priorities and help you obtain leads after graduation.

Favorite Career Guide: LinkedIn Career Guide

Previous Roles:

  • Boston University, College of Communication Career Services: Assistant Director
  • Tufts University, The Fletcher School: Assistant Director
  • Wellesley College, Center for Work and Service: Interim Assistant Director, Career Counseling Assistant
  • Brandeis University, Hiatt Career Center; Career Counseling Assistant
  • Brandies University, The Heller School: Career Advising Assistant
  • Liberal Arts Career Network: Research Consultant
  • Northeastern University: Career Counseling Assistant
  • National Center for PTSD at Department of Veterans Affairs: Research Technician
  • Binghamton University: Career Development Center: Peer Assistant

Adam Lapidus

Adam’s television career began when he was 16 years old. He was offered a summer job as a Production Assistant at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles on the television show, “Taxi.” This offer came from one of the show’s creators, the legendary Jim Brooks. Adam went on to study writing at New York University. He graduated in 1986 and moved to Los Angeles.

After that he started working as a writer and wrote episodes for shows including, “Who’s The Boss,” and “Charles In Charge.” Adam got his “big break” when he sold a pitch and got to write an episode of the show, “The Simpsons” which was in its fourth season at the time. This lead to his first network staff job as a writer on the last two seasons of the show, “Full House.” Following “Full House,” Adam worked on shows for FOX and the WB. He was then staffed on Disney Channel’s, “Phil Of The Future.” This began a 15-year career at the Disney Channel which included the shows, “The Suite Life Of Zack And Cody,” “The Suite Life On Deck,” “Jessie,” where he became an Executive Producer, and on the first three seasons of “Bunk’d.” After his stint at Disney, he went on to write and produce for the Netflix show, “Team Kaylie.”

Marni Zelnick

Marni Zelnick is an award-winning independent writer, director, and producer. She was the recipient of a $100,000 Sloan Foundation Feature Film Production Award and a Roger King Foundation Award for her directorial debut DRUID PEAK. The film won seven Best Narrative Feature Awards, as well as the celebrated Jack London Spirit Award, during its festival run. Zelnick has served as Producer, Line Producer, and Assistant Director on films that screened at Sundance, Cannes, SXSW, Tribeca, and Berlin. Her writing credits include both feature and television work. She earned her MFA from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, and her BA from Dartmouth College. She currently holds the title of Assistant Professor in Feature and Television Writing at Boston University.

John Kennedy

Kennedy has been a journalist for more than 40 years and a college instructor for the past 25 years. He was instrumental in launching communication majors at two small colleges, Rosemont College in Pennsylvania and Franklin University Switzerland in Lugano, Switzerland. He has taught graduate students in Greece and the Czech Republic, as well as rural journalists in east Africa. He is the author of A Course of Their Own: A History of African American Golfers, and a contributor to Media Ethics at Work, a journalism ethics textbook.

Ana Maria Romay

Ana Maria Romay is an award-winning creative director, copywriter, product designer and entrepreneur with 20+ years of experience launching, building and promoting the brands people love. She currently serves as VP Brand & UX at Nift Networks, a company she helped to launch and grow to over 16M consumers.

Previously, Ana Maria served as global creative director, product and brand at TripAdvisor. There she led a team of 24 who were charged with maintaining the world’s largest travel site and #1 most downloaded travel app, including 74M emails per week, social media, print, digital, outdoor and display advertising.

At Digitas LBI, Ana Maria served as VP creative director. During her tenure, she led creative teams for: AOL, Bank of America, Merrill Edge, Merrill Lynch, Olay, and Pantene.

Getting an early start at J. Walter Thompson, Ana Maria has worked agency-side and in-house on a multitude of brands including: Debeers Diamonds, Tampax and Always, Sam Adams, MBTA, Microsoft, Monsanto Biotechnology, Azamara and Celebrity Cruises, Lipton Brisk, and OralB.