Laughter Honored for Support of Communication Program

(Photo: Susan Edens, associate professor of communication, gives pointers on using a video camera to students in her class.)

Michael Laughter of Little Rock, Ark., who established an endowed scholarship and an annual student award at University of the Ozarks for students in the communication studies program, will receive the University's 2025 Pay It Forward Award during Homecoming 2025. The award will be presented during the Ozarks Awards Ceremony at 6 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 17, in the Rogers Conference Center.

The Pay it Forward Award is given to an individual or a family "who has made a difference in the lives of others through leadership, unselfish giving and direct financial support of the mission of University of the Ozarks."

Laughter recently established the Doug and Patricia Laughter Endowed Scholarship in honor of his parents as well as the Michael Laughter Student Award for Media Production, an annual honor for the outstanding student(s) in media production. Laughter has also supported the University's communication studies program in the past.

"Michael Laughter's generosity is a heartfelt tribute to his parents' legacy and an enduring investment in our students," said Lori McBee, vice president for advancement and alumni engagement. "Through the scholarship and student award he has created, Michael is ensuring that future generations of Ozarks students will have the resources and encouragement they need to thrive. His commitment reflects the very spirit of the Pay It Forward Award-selfless giving, leadership, and a deep belief in the power of education to change lives."

Doug and Patricia Laughter both grew up in Johnson County and Michael said he remembers walking the U of O campus as a young child when he and his parents visited his grandparents.

"This campus has always been a special place to me," said Laughter, who is retired from Georgia Tech University where he served as the education and outreach communications manager for the Center for Career Discovery and Development. Laughter also taught the communication component to senior design at Georgia Tech.

Michael's father, Doug Laugher, was a long-time television engineer in Little Rock who died in 2023. Doug was a part of the engineering team in the early 2000s that installed the entire broadcast infrastructure of the Willard and Pat Walker Hall Television Studio. He personally taught Ozarks faculty, staff, and students how to make the equipment work, what to look for when troubleshooting technical issues, and how to maximize the potential of the production tools available to Ozarks' students, according to Michael.

Michael said of his parents: "There was virtually nothing Doug encountered in his long life that he couldn't repair and maintain. Doug became vice president of operations at KTHV-TV in 1978. During his years at KTHV, he and Patricia traveled the globe, and made many trips to Las Vegas, all of which they cherished. What empowered Doug in his management of a television station wasn't just his ability with equipment; he was also an involved and caring professional with both colleagues and employees. Polite and affable to the point of being courtly, he treated everyone with friendly respect, and never met a person he didn't want to include or help."

The Doug and Patricia Laughter Endowed Scholarship will be awarded to students majoring in communication studies (media production track) who show "great interest in the technical aspects of field and studio production." The students must show financial need to receive the scholarship, and it can be awarded to sophomores, juniors, and seniors.

The Michael Laughter Student Award for Media Production will be given annually to a student or students majoring in communication studies (media production track) who display "great interest in the technical aspects of field and studio production, and who have contributed significantly to KUOZ audio/video productions, specifically as a student producer." The supervising faculty for these productions will determine if a student has met the award criteria. The award may be given to sophomores, juniors, and seniors.

Topics: Communication Studies