For generations of students at the College of Journalism and Mass Communications, Dr. Wilma Crumley was more than a professor. She was a life-changing mentor who inspired leadership and critical thinking in her teaching and everyday activism.
When alum Glenn Friendt ('69) was a student at Nebraska, he didn't imagine he'd one day lead his own companies or build a career at a Fortune 500 firm, but a pivotal conversation with Crumley helped him see a more corporate career path that led to three job offers after 28 rejection letters.
Friendt, who was looking for an adventure, declined midwest-centric offers from General Electric and John Deere and accepted a position with Armstrong World Industries in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
"It was absolutely the perfect way to start a career," Friendt said. "They were such a quality company with some terrific internal training programs, and I believe I owe it all to Dr. Crumley."
He also credits Crumley's mentorship and the opportunities she championed, including honors seminars and national student conferences, with putting him ahead of the curve.
"She helped us explore media research topics that were groundbreaking at the time, like cognitive dissonance," Friendt said. "That understanding has stayed with me my whole life and career."
Associate Professor Rick Alloway, a full-time faculty member since 1986, remembered Crumley from his undergrad days as a broadcasting major in the mid-1970s.
"Besides teaching courses in advertising, she was one the college’s research specialists," Alloway said. "Along with Professor Mike Stricklin, she was very focused on exploring the effects of mass media content on audiences. The two of them conducted on-going research studies on that topic, often involving our graduate students in the process. Their work led to several published articles."
Crumley was the first woman to become a full professor at the J School in 1965, and in 1966, she was the fourth woman to receive a Ph.D from the University of Missouri. She established the college's graduate program, which she chaired, and served terms as Associate Dean and Chairwoman of the Advertising Department.
Alumna Debra Alward ('78) pursued her Master of Arts while working full-time for Friendt. Crumley was her thesis advisor and a steady, supportive force throughout her degree completion.
"She would hint around some things and you had to get there on your own—which was a great teaching tool, but it wasn't easy," Alward said. "Wilma was not just smart, she was also wise, so some of the things that she advised me about weren't necessarily masters related, but more career related."
Throughout Alward's career, there would be times she'd encounter something new or overcome a challenge at work and think to herself, "Oh, that's what Wilma meant, now I get it."
"She could be a little intimidating and appear to be very stern, but she had a soft heart, and she cared about us," Alward said. "She would go to the wall for us."
In 1977, Crumley attended the National Women's Conference as an official observer and was a supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment, whereas the Nebraska delegation was anti-ERA.
Crumley also served as Secretary of the UNL Faculty Senate from 1979 to 1980 and was the Martha H. Hitchcock Distinguished Professor from 1983 to 1991.
Today, her legacy lives on through the Dr. Wilma Crumley Legacy Fellowship, which provides financial support to students pursuing a graduate degree in Integrated Media Communications.
"This fellowship is the first of its kind for the master's program, and it's meant to enable a talented, hard-working person of limited financial means to participate when they might not be able to otherwise," Friendt said. "I am not bashful about saying that reflects my own personal experience."
Friendt came from a blue-collar working family, was the first to go to college and worked full-time throughout college. He calls on fellow alumni who worked with Dr. Crumley, especially those who were in the initial years of the master's program, to think about what a difference she has made in their lives, as she did in his.
"I just know there are others out there that are in the same situation," Friendt said. "They have the capacity, the talent and the drive, so let's get together and honor Dr. Crumley by helping some deserving individual make it happen."
Learn more and give to the fellowship here: https://nufoundation.org/fund/01171500/
