Keith Shipman, a 1983 alumnus, was named President & Chief Executive Officer of Horizon Broadcasting Group, LLC in 2003.  He co-founded the company in 1999 and helped create a stable of 12 radio stations and a minor league baseball team in Oregon and Idaho.  Two of Horizon Broadcasting Group’s stations have been honored as Oregon Radio Station of the Year, recognized by the Oregon Association of Broadcasters for their extraordinary community involvement.

He began his commercial broadcasting career in high school as an on-air personality at KPUG-AM (Bellingham, WA) in 1978. Upon graduating from Washington State University in 1983, he embarked on a 17-year stint in Seattle broadcasting, 13 of which were spent with KCPQ (Fox) Television as its Sports and Public Affairs Director. While at KCPQ-TV he was responsible for sports programming and creating and managing several outreach programs that developed new business opportunities and provided a foundation of community involvement. During his tenure at KCPQ-TV, he was awarded three regional Emmy Awards and was selected Sportscaster of the Year in Washington state on three occasions. He also worked for KOMO-AM (Seattle), KIRO-AM (Seattle) and helped launch the Pacific Northwest’€™s first all-sports radio station, KJR-AM (Seattle) in 1991.

Shipman served on the board of directors for the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association for five years and presently serves on the Professional Advisory Board for the Murrow College of Communication at his alma mater, Washington State University. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the Oregon Association of Broadcasters, the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Oregon, the Deschutes Children’s Foundation, the Education Foundation for Bend-LaPine Schools, and the Bend-Mt. Bachelor Rotary. He is past chair of the Board of Governors for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Oregon and is a past member of the Board of Directors of Deschutes United Way.