By Candace Perkins Bowen, MJE
Bob Bair, 73, a longtime JEA leader, mentor to advisers and inspiration for journalism students at Blair (Nebraska) High School for 41 years, lost his courageous battle with multiple myeloma, Thursday, June 20.
Bair was a support and friend “to so many of us in the journalism trenches,” said Marsha Kalkowski, MJE, current JEA state director for Nebraska.
After serving as Nebraska’s state director 1997 to 2001 and then as regional director, Bair was elected JEA vice president and served in that position on the board for two terms between 2007 and 2011.
Bair received the JEA’s Medal of Merit in 2005 and the JEA’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014. He was certified as an Master Journalism Educator.
Not surprisingly, Bair was one of the initial JEA national mentors, signing up to help advisers in his state, where he had already served in many ways: Nebraska High School Press Association executive board secretary in 1991, vice president in 1992 and president in 1993. He served as the NHSPA communications director from 2002 to 2011, writing and editing THE FORMAT newsletter for members. He was named a Distinguished Adviser through NHSPA in 2000.
View the complete obituary and information about donations to the Bob Bair Journalism Scholarship at Blair High School. NOTE: The link to that specific scholarship will be up soon.
