Thomas Griffith’s distinguished service to BYU and Broadcast Journalism education leave a lasting legacy in the School of Communications.
BYU alumnus and former communications faculty member Thomas A. Griffiths passed away September 23, 2018 after several days of suffering from severe stroke.
After working as a KSL reporter and anchor in Salt Lake City, Griffiths came back to BYU in 1974 to work with Norm Tarbox to start a student-produced television newscast for KBYU-TV. It was uncommon during the time for student-produced newscasts to be shown on PBS television stations. Many universities sent representatives to learn from the work Griffiths and Tarbox were accomplishing.
Griffiths was also appointed managing director of the Broadcast Services, the forerunner to BYU Broadcasting in 1984. He later became Associate Dean in the College of Fine Arts and Communication and eventually returned full time to the Communications faculty.
Griffiths dedicated his time and ingenuity to BYU through several positions within the department, and in 2004 the Radio-Television News Division (now the Electronic News Division) of AEJMC honored him with the prestigious Edward L Bliss Award for distinguished service to broadcast journalism education.
Thomas Griffith’s impact on the communication department and the thousands of students he taught and mentored is among his greatest achievements. Many of his students continue to work in broadcasting or have followed in his footsteps to become professors.