Dr. Clive Kinghorn, the only person to manage all of Texas Tech University's broadcast entities - KTXT-FM and KOHM-FM, later KTTZ-FM, passed away last month. He was 77.
Fondly remembered by many at Texas Tech and those in the Lubbock radio community as "Dr. Radio," Kinghorn was loved for his knack of bringing the community together.
Todd Chambers, the interim associate dean for undergraduate affairs and former colleague of Kinghorn's, said when Lubbock was in the process of obtaining an NPR affiliate station, Kinghorn was a prominent figure in the efforts.
When I started working professionally, I had heard rumors that Texas Tech was trying to get an NPR station and an NPR affiliate," Chambers said, "and I knew that Dr. Kinghorn was instrumental in that and I think that’s one of the things I remember most fondly about Dr. K – his ability to kind of lead initiatives like that and sort of build coalitions within the community, but also not just the external community, but also internally."
While Kinghorn was instrumental and influential throughout the Lubbock community, Chambers remembers him most fondly when he was surrounded by students.
"His office was sort of the home to students all the time,"Chambers said. "Every fifteen, twenty minutes, a different student would come in, sometimes there would be two or three in his office. You’d hear laughter, but you’d hear a lot of real-world advice. And I think that was the cool thing about who Dr. K was, that’s why he meant so much to so many people, and was so influential."
Dennis Harp, another former colleague of Kinghorn's, said that he liked to challenge all of his students - three decades' worth of students.
"Clive influenced the lives and careers of hundreds, maybe thousands of students over the years, because he was here for 30 years," Harp said. "He helped each one to achieve his or her potential to excel, and he took a personal interest in all his students."
Chambers said Kinghorn would challenge him, too, pushing him to meet his goals.
"I was ABD – all but dissertation – and I remember he and I having several conversations about that," Chambers said. "He was always that light of encouragement. ‘Todd, you gotta get it done. I know you’ve got a lot of other things going on in your life, but you gotta get that thing done.’"
Harp distinctly remembers a particular challenge that Kinghorn, an avid basketball fan, would issue to his classes at the beginning of each semester.
"During his entire teaching career at Texas Tech, at the first day of class, he would announce, ‘If anyone in here can beat me throwing basketballs on the court, you’ll get an A and you don’t have to come back to class.’"
Harp said his classes over the years contained more than a handful of amateur basketball players and a few Texas Tech basketball players, who were all in search of that elusive, easy A.
No one ever beat him, Harp remembers.
"And after 30 years, and many students taking that challenge over the years - they would go to the gym, or later, the Rec Center, and he would show up there - and no one ever beat him," Harp said. "He never had to come through with an A or give them the grade. They could not throw him."
Chambers, who still teaches at Texas Tech, said as an educator, emulating Kinghorn's style and passion for his students is his goal as a professor.
"You can be that fantastic professor that they’re always going to remember, that they’re always going to cherish, and they’ll always say, ‘Hey, yeah, remember that time when Dr. K did this or that?'" Chambers said. "I want a small part of that to be me. I want to be like that."
