President, Columbia Broadcasting System Radio.
1956
Citation:
In 1904 a young Italian named Marconi had succeeded in coaxing wireless messages across the Atlantic and was gradually convincing an incredulous world that a revolutionary medium of communication was at hand. That same year Arthur Hull Hayes, now President of CBS Radio, was born. The art of communication has been the absorbing interest of his life. As a boy at the University of Detroit High School and as a young man in the University's College of Arts and Sciences, he was intrigued by what the Jesuits call eloquentia perfecta - the power of lucid and persuasive expression. Upon receiving his bachelor's degree from the university in 1926, he took a position with the Detroit News, was editor for a year of a theatrical magazine, and then spent five years in the field of advertising. With this apprenticeship, he was ready for a responsible post with the Columbia Broadcasting System. He was successively Eastern sales manager, general manager of WCBS, vice-president of the West Coast office and director of Station KCBS in San Francisco. Last year he was named President of CBS Radio with headquarters in New York. During all this busy life of meeting daily demands and deadlines, Mr. Hayes has associated himself with many civic and philanthropic groups, especially those concerned with the welfare of children. His eminent position in the field of communications and in particular his exemplification of Jesuit ideals where publicly recognized when he was chosen to deliver the Ignatian year address at the all-Jesuit-alumni dinner in St. Louis on April 3. The University is happy tonight to add its own accolade to this recognition. Reverend President, I present Mr. Arthur Hull Hayes for the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws. Commencement, University of Detroit, June 14, 1956.