John Records Landecker可以回顾他作为一名广播员的传奇生涯 broadcaster, entertaining millions of listeners around the U.S. and Canada for more than 50 years.
"I don't remember a time when I was not interested in radio," said Landecker.
他的职业兴趣始于童年时期:听收音机 和父亲一起看综艺、西部片、肥皂剧和犯罪剧 who was blind, and building his own crystal diode radios from old cigar boxes when he was in the Cub Scouts.
He would later go on to become a disc jockey who would be named Billboard Magazine's "Radio Personality of the Year" in the 1970s while working at WLS in Chicago. In the 1990s, 他在芝加哥WJMK的早间节目被评为最佳早间节目 show in the city.
而且，对于那些好奇的人来说，他的中间名不仅仅是为了炫耀 真的是记录，他的名字是为了纪念他母亲的娘家姓.
为了表彰他杰出的职业生涯，兰德克入选 2017年进入国家广播名人堂，但这并不是唯一的 "class" he joined last year. He also became a member of the 湖人2017届毕业生——他只是直到今年早些时候才知道.
Landecker visited the Allendale Campus February 8 to discuss his life, career and autobiography, Records Truly Is My Middle Name, in front of students, faculty, staff and community members. 他不知道的是，在他的演讲之后，他将被呈现 with a diploma more than 40 years after dropping out of college.
'I'm walking out a graduate.'
当兰德克获得学士学位时，他流下了眼泪 弗雷德·安察克，文理学院院长， after his presentation.
While wearing a smile as he accepted his diploma, he said, "I walked in here a college dropout, and I'm walking out a graduate."
Landecker attended Grand Valley from 1965-1967, but because Grand 他说，当时山谷没有广播节目或广播电台 transferred to Michigan State University. During his final semester at 在密歇根州立大学，他得到了费城一家广播电台的工作邀请 he accepted, and never completed his degree.
兰德克说，他的家人和朋友都认为他会这么做 graduate from college, especially considering he grew up in the college town of Ann Arbor, attended University of Michigan High School, and had a U-M sociology professor as a father.
他在演讲和自传中都说没有 finishing college was one of his biggest regrets.
"I was a senior at MSU getting good grades, and out of nowhere 但我父母当时在欧洲，因为我的 father was spending a year teaching in Germany," Landecker recalled. "I wrote them a letter telling them that I was dropping out of college. On some level, it felt like I was letting my parents 虽然他们从来没有做过或说过任何让我有这种感觉的事."
在芝加哥，克利夫兰和 在印第安纳州，兰德克未完成的教育一直留在他的身后 mind. Despite earning additional credits at Columbia College in 在克利夫兰州立大学探索课程选择 在常春藤科技社区大学，他从来没能挣到钱 those final credits.
失望的感觉消失了第二个兰德克 handed his diploma.
"It was like an empty space had been filled," said Landecker. "Looking at the diploma was like having my life flash in front of my eyes."
Thanks to Len
Landecker credits Len O'Kelly, assistant professor of multimedia journalism at Grand Valley, for making this milestone a reality.
年，兰德克的前同事奥凯利检查了他的成绩单 2017年才发现，兰德克只差几个学分 根据他过去积累的学分获得学士学位.
"I've heard the story often, 'I was one class away and never finished.' Usually, that's not the case, but this was one where it was," said O'Kelly. "John had gone his whole life thinking that he had missed out on completing his degree. I knew I had to find a way to invite John back home to Grand Valley to finish it."
O'Kelly kept news of the diploma under wraps until pieces of 兰德克的笔录出现在ppt上 accompanied the duo's Q&A session on February 8.
"When my transcript's suddenly appeared on the screen, I could 不知道他要去哪里，但莱恩是罪魁祸首 happened," Landecker said.
“It was like an empty space had been filled. Looking at the diploma was like having your life flash in front of your eyes.”
JOHN RECORDS LANDECKER
The future of radio
So, where did those final credits come from? Landecker has nine Grand Valley students to partially thank for his diploma.
Records Truly Is My Middle Name was published in 2013, but 兰德克在2017年获得名人堂提名后更新了这本书. 2017年夏天，兰德克来到Grand Valley接受采访 九名学生谈论广播的未来，那些采访都是 included in a new chapter in the updated version.
奥凯利把兰德克的采访告诉了大学管理人员 与学生一起，并表示该项目符合独立研究的资格 2017年秋季学期的学分，达到了兰德克的学位要求.
"I am blown away by the courses Grand Valley offers, you just don't find this kind of commitment at other colleges," said Landecker. "I knew that GVSU students who were taking these 我就是想找这样的人聊一聊 my book."
采访项目对兰德克和 students, many of whom currently work in the radio industry.
卡拉马祖WKZO电视台早间新闻主播、17岁的Jeana Gondek说 sitting down with a National Radio Hall of Fame inductee was an incredible opportunity.
"I felt honored to be a part of John's book," said Gondek. "Not only did he ask about our experiences in today's radio 菲尔德，但我得问问他过去的经历，我应该怎么做 shoot for, and what to look forward to."
Maitlynn Mossolle, a senior multimedia journalism major, said the 经历使她充满了动力和无畏 toward her career.
"My takeaways from the whole experience were to just keep 朝着我的目标努力，不害怕原创，勇于动摇 things up because that can lead to a wonderful career and legacy," said Mossolle, who works part-time for "The Free Beer and Hot Wings Morning Show" in Grand Rapids. "John is an amazing person, not just because of his accomplishments, but because he genuinely sees potential and a future for radio in us."
As a self-proclaimed music and pop culture "geek," Nicole 斯托纳很高兴有机会听到不同的观点 Landecker和她的同学谈论广播的现状和未来.
"A lot has obviously changed in 50 years, but some things 没有，尤其是，用约翰的话来说，你对着麦克风说话 and know that someone is listening somewhere," said Stoner, '17.
Laker for a Lifetime
If step one of Landecker fulfilling his dream of graduating from college was to earn his diploma, the second step was to actually attend a commencement ceremony.
兰德克就是这样做的，他加入了成千上万的湖人队 四月，我走过毕业典礼的舞台，正式毕业了 from Grand Valley.
"There really are no words that I can use to express the gratitude that I have for Len and the university," said Landecker. "This goes beyond being inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame. I've never felt anything close to this."
WHAT IS THE FUTURE OF RADIO?
“我知道参加这些课程的GVSU学生是那种 people I wanted to talk to for a section of my book.”
JOHN RECORDS LANDECKER
“无线电的未来是光明的，因为尽管可能会减少 我们，仍然有很多热情的无线电爱好者， determined to continue making good radio. Big corporations may try to kill radio, but the passion and creativity will keep it around.”
JEANA GONDEK, '17, BACHELOR'S DEGREE IN BROADCASTING
“The future of radio right now is extremely hard to predict. Everyone 说一旦iPod问世，广播就会消失，但事实并非如此 was able to adapt and stick around. I don't see radio going away anytime soon.”
LOGAN CHURCH, SENIOR MAJORING IN MULTIMEDIA JOURNALISM
“I feel like it's only going to get more interesting from here! We live 在一个言语具有如此强大力量的时代，所以我认为更多的人会这样做 start looking to radio for truth, or for an escape.”
MAITLYNN MOSSOLLE, SENIOR MAJORING IN MULTIMEDIA JOURNALISM
“我相信广播仍然是一种形式，但是 就像其他形式的娱乐和交流一样，它也会不断发展. 电视和电影已经在使用在线流媒体了. I 可以通过互联网收听全国各地的广播电台， and I know friends who create and share podcasts. I don't know what 从现在开始，无线电将会发展很多年，但我不能说它会 dead anytime soon.”
NICOLE STONER, '17, BACHELOR'S DEGREE IN FILM AND VIDEO PRODUCTION
