BIOGRAPHIES: Grant Price (1922-2008)

Born on November 11, 1922 in Melville, Saskatchewan, Canada, Grant Price grew up on a family farm during a time when the term “horsepower” was taken for its literal meaning and went hand-in-hand with manpower. Before high school, his family moved south to north-central Nebraska, where he got a job 20 miles south of Atkinson, on a cattle ranch.

During breaks from school, he would get a chance to work on the 12,000-acre ranch, where he learned many values about hard work and dedication.

Upon his graduation from high school in 1940, Price went out east and enrolled at American University in Washington, D.C. However, the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 would change Price’s plans. Expecting to be drafted, he returned to the Midwest and transferred to Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa, where he could be closer to home. It was here where Price would be introduced to radio and subsequently, broadcasting.

At KSCJ Radio as a student announcer, he would ride the street car through town early in the morning and sign on before heading to class. Having been involved with speech and debate, radio was a natural progression for Price.

Finishing the semester at Morningside, Price was drafted by the Navy and served in the South Pacific. Upon discharge, he returned to Sioux City, got a job as a night announcer and re-enrolled at Morningside. When he was offered the position of news director at KTRI Radio, Price made the decision to not continue with his education.

In 1948, he took a similar position at KXEL Radio in Waterloo and worked there until 1959. Even with television in its infancy at this time, Price saw the potential it had to become the dominating force in broadcast news. He went to work for WMT in Cedar Rapids as a desk reporter for the radio station in 1960, knowing that he might have a chance to do a television newscast as well. His intuition proved correct, and eventually he was offered the position of news director at WMT Channel 2 TV and Radio. Taking the stations to regional, then national prominence, Price would leave the organization after a disagreement with station management over the future direction of the newsroom.

He moved north to Waterloo and took the job offered by the Blackhawk Broadcasting Co. as vice president of news and public affairs for KWWL-TV in 1972. Eight years later, the company was sold to AFLAC’s broadcast division and made Price vice president of news. With AFLAC on board, KWWL grew to secure an overwhelming dominance of ratings.

By 1989, Price thought it was time for him to “clear out of the newsroom.” At 67 years old he retired from KWWL, though he would stay on part-time doing editorials and public affairs work.

Soon after, Price accepted an offer from former president of Wartburg College, Robert Vogel, and former Board of Regents Chairman Henry Slife, to teach a required broadcasting course at the college. At the time, radio was the only medium offered in the electronic journalism program. With Price’s help, along with a large gift by the R.J. McElroy Trust to install a TV studio and lab, the new McElroy Communication Arts Center was opened. More than adequately equipped to provide the foundation for a strong broadcast television emphasis, the program grew immensely.

Price left KWWL completely and became the full-time department chair in 1993. Several years later he recruited broadcaster Liz Mathis to teach and co-chair with him.

He officially retired from Wartburg in 2005, though he was still not finished at the college. Throughout his time there, he worked extensively alongside Dr. Jeff Stein to make Wartburg the home of the Archives of Iowa Broadcasting. Up until his death in the fall of 2008, he continued working on the project.

Price’s legacy continues to live on. In 2005, Price made a gift of $2 million to Wartburg, establishing the Grant L. Price Chair in Communication Arts as well as several scholarships in both his and his late wife, Fadra’s, names. The Iowa Broadcast News Association also gives out The Grant Price Scholarship, which is awarded to college students whose work shows great potential in the field of broadcast journalism. Finally, Price’s gift included a significant addition to the endowment of the Archives of Iowa Broadcasting.