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| Courtesy Gina Ferazzi |
| Leo Melzer, BS'40, honored two friends and his brother with three recent gifts to the school. |
The first is in memory of his friend Tom Miller, BA’40, former sportswriter and sports information director at IU. The second gift is in memory of Melzer’s mentor, Tom Buck, BA’39, who was an editor-in-chief of the IDS, a reporter, a press agent for the mayor of Chicago and a teacher of journalism. Melzer recently established his third gift, an endowed scholarship for journalism students in need of assistance, in memory of his older brother, Joseph L. Melzer.
The Miller fund will support faculty, student and staff development, including bringing speakers to campus, recognizing students through events, covering educational travel expenses and promoting special programs. The Buck fund will support three annual awards for undergraduate students in the School of Journalism who have written the best stories published in the Indiana Daily Student during the preceding academic year.
Melzer, who studied business journalism at IU and served as associate night editor of the IDS, is a docent at the Will Rogers Historic State Park in Pacific Palisades, Calif. After graduation from IU, he worked for the City Bureau in Chicago; the Evanston News Service in Evanston, Ill.; the United Press; the International News Service; and the Los Angeles Mirror.
His journalism career was interrupted by active duty in the U.S. Air Force in Burma (now Myanmar) during World War II, and he was later recalled to active duty during the Korean conflict.
Melzer spent many years employed by the federal government as an information specialist, and he continued to serve his country in the U.S. Air Force Reserves. Upon his retirement from the Reserves, he had earned the rank of lieutenant colonel. He lives in Santa Monica, Calif.
