University of Central Oklahoma

Herbert S. Dordick

Mentor Award Recipients

2011 - Recipient - Ms. Jonnie Machell (Academic Advisement)

2010 Recipient - Dr. Randal Ice (Finance)

2009 Recipient - Dr. Douglas Hunt (History & Geography)

2008 Recipient - Charles Pursifull (Accounting)

2007 Recipient - Dr. Susanne Rassouli-Currier (Economics)

2006 Recipient - Dr. John F. Barthell (Biology)

2005 Recipient - Dr. Diane Rudebock (Kinesiology & Health Studies)

2004 Recipient - Dr. Jeffrey Plaks (History & Geography)

2003 Recipient - Dr. Jesse W. Byrne (Math & Statistics)

2002 Recipient - Dr. Paulette Shreck (Curriculum & Instruction)

2001 Recipient - Dr. Chalon E. Anderson (Psychology)

2000 Recipients - Dr. Samuel Hankey (Math & Statistics)
and Dr. Billye Hansen (General Business)

1999 Recipient - Dr. James R. Watson (Visual Art & Design)

 

Created in honor of our mentor

Professor Herbert S. Dordick

 

Herbert S. Dordick:

Herbert S. Dordick (1925-1998) was a friend, mentor, teacher, advocate, colleague, devil's advocate, communication scholar, electrical engineer, worrier, futurist, husband, father, grandfather, opera lover, author, and so much more to all that had the opportunity to be touched by him.  He was a Renaissance man who energized others working as a teacher and mentor.

Professor Dordick’s primary research interest was in the field of technology and society.  He pioneered research on the impact of communication networks, technology in society, and the social uses of the telephone.  He was formally educated as an electrical engineer with degrees from Swarthmore College (1949) and the Moore School of Electrical Engineering of the University of Pennsylvania (1954).  He also served in the U.S. Army.

His last academic appointment was as a Visiting Professor at the University of California, San Diego.  Prior, he was Professor Emeritus of Communications and former Chairman of the Department of Radio, Television and Film in the School of Communications and Theater at Temple University in Philadelphia where he taught for seven years.  He was a founding faculty member of the Annenberg School of Communications at the University of Southern California teaching there for eleven years.

Before academia, Herb held several significant industry positions: engineering manager at the Radio Corporation of America responsible for various advanced development programs in communications and microelectronics; Chief Engineer of the Electronic Instruments Division of the Burroughs Corporation, responsible for the development and manufacture of memory systems for large computers; a research and development engineer at the Leeds and Northrup Company engaged in the design and application of measurement, test, and control systems and equipment; and a senior member of the research staff at the RAND Corporation.

Herbert Dordick also served in government and policy positions.  Some of these included: consultant to President Johnson’s Task Force on Communications Policy;  the first Director of the Office of Telecommunications for the City of New York; and a member of the Federal Communications Commission Committee on Federal, State, and Local Cable Regulation.  He was also responsible for the development of the Master Plan for Cable Communications for Los Angeles.

As a consultant to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Herb helped public broadcasting utilize new technologies, from satellite distribution to cable programming services.  In his role as an engineer, he worked on the Hoover Dam and his initials can be found on the original blueprints.

Professor Dordick was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship and the first Telecommunications Fellowship at the Institute of Policy Studies at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, for research on information technology and economic growth.  Information Technology and Economic Growth in New Zealand was published by the Victoria University Press, Wellington, New Zealand, in 1987.

Herbert Dordick was the Founder and first President of the Information Transfer Corporation, a firm specializing in the development and marketing of education and training materials.  He also served as President of Applied Communications Networks, Inc. which provided design and consulting services for the network services marketplace.  Areas he affected included teleconferencing, electronic mail, other modern communications-computer services, market research for electronic publishing, videotex, teletext, common carriers, and electronic funds transfer.

Professor Dordick was the author, co-author, or editor of more than a dozen books, the last being The Information Society: A Retrospective View with (Georgette Wang) (Sage Publications, 1994) which was translated into Chinese. Other books include Understanding Modern Telecommunications, (McGraw-Hill, 1986); The Executive’s Guide to Information Technology: How to Increase Your Competitive Edge, (Wiley, 1983 with F. Williams) and a companion work i n this series entitled Innovative Management Using Telecommunications: A Guide to Opportunities, Strategies, and Applications (Wiley, 1986 with F. Williams). The Emerging Network Marketplace, (with Bradley and Nanus), one of the earliest analyses of the development of computer-communications services and networks, was published by Ablex in 1981. He correctly predicted the evolution of telecommunications in the 1980s.

He is the author of more than one hundred articles, book reviews, and chapters on communications and information technology.  Recent articles included "The Telecommunications Act of 1996: Potholes in the Final Mile" in the Central Business Review (1996) of the University of Central Oklahoma, and "The Social Consequences of Liberalization’s and Corporate Control in Telecommunications" in the New Information Infrastructure (W. Drake, editor, 20th Century Fund, 1995). Others publication venues included Telecommunications Policy, Transitional Data Review, Journal of Communications, Computerworld, The Columbia Journal of World Business, Federal Communications Law Journal, and the Proceedings of the Institute o f Electrical and Electronic Engineers.

Research reports by Dordick included: Toward a Universal Definition of Universal Service," Institute for Information Studies, Universal Telephone Service: Ready for the Twenty-First Century, 1991; Telecommunications Policy Research Conference. (6th: 1978: Airlie House) Proceedings of the sixth annual Telecommunications Policy Research Conference, (a cura di), 1979, Lexington, Mass.: Lexington Books; Access by local political candidates to cable television; a report of an experiment, (con Jack Lyle), 1971, Santa Monica, Calif., Rand, 1971; Telecommunications in urban development [by] H. S. Dordick [and others], 1969, Santa Monica, Calif., Rand; Adult education goals for Los Angeles: a working paper for the Los Angeles goals program, 1968, Santa Monica, Calif.: Rand; The new communication technology and for what?, 1968, Santa Monica, Rand; Planning educational change for the primary schools of Colombia; Santa Monica, Calif.: Rand, 1968; Communications goals for Los Angeles (a working paper for the Los Angeles Goals Program), (con L. G. Chesler), 1968, Santa Monica, Rand.

He has also published several short stories.

Herbert S. Dordick was born in the Strawberry Mansion section of Philadelphia and attended Central High School. He died of leukemia on October 21, 1998, at his home in Center City, Philadelphia.  Surviving are his wife of 50 years, Ruth Rothstein Dordick; a son, Jonathan, a Professor of Chemical Engineering; a daughter, Gwendolyn, Ph.D Sociology; a brother; a sister; and grandchildren.

In 1999, the Communication and Technology Division of the International Communication Division named its bi-annual Dissertation award in honor of Herb.  He had been an annual contributor to the division since its founding.

[This material was taken as whole or in part from various sources on the Internet where as Herb would have told you, more could and will be found then you would have ever imagined.]

Personally, Herb was a dear friend and mentor.  He was always available when we needed his expertise, questions, guidance, suggestions, and ear.  Although he had achieved the extensive accomplishments listed above, what is not listed is the great influence he had on the areas of study he pursued and on the many people he motivated.  A search of the Internet finds him referenced extensively and internationally.   He greatly influenced the direction our lives and the lives of others who never knew him.  We miss him.

Robert Epstein, Robert LaRose, Ron Goldman, and many others.