A.Q. Miller School Professor Honored for Service, Professional Achievement
August 24, 2023
In just four years in Manhattan, Kansas State University professor of practice Ian Punnett has earned the highest honors bestowed by his Kansas industry colleagues.
This week, the Kansas Association of Broadcasters (KAB) announced that Punnett has received the group’s distinguished service award for 2023. KAB also will induct Punnett into its Hall of Fame this fall.
Punnett teaches courses in media business and entrepreneurship, media history, and podcasting in the A.Q. Miller School of Media and Communication. He also serves as chief operator and faculty adviser for Wildcat 91.9, which was this year voted the Best College Radio Station in the nation.
Ed Klimek, alumnus of the A.Q. Miller School and National Advisory Council member, nominated Punnett for the service award, writing that Punnett “has elevated the station to become one that attracts students to become a part of the positive growth. His work has brought radio to new heights on the campus.”
In his broadcasting career, Punnett has been honored more than three dozen times for his multi‐platform creative work in audio, video, digital, and print. During his 35‐year professional career, Punnett was most successful in hard rock morning radio through the 1990s before switching to talk radio, first at WGN/Chicago and later WGST in Atlanta. At the same time, he was picked up by 600‐affiliate overnight radio show Coast to Coast AM where he worked with the legendary Art Bell and later George Noory. Punnett continues to perform two to five times a month on Coast to Coast from his home studio in Manhattan.
Punnett is the author of five books, most recently Toward a Theory of True Crime Narratives (Routledge, 2018).
As an inductee, Punnett will be recognized at the 2023 KAB Hall of Fame Dinner at the Overland Park Marriott on October 22.