Kenneth Giddens

Two acronyms will always be associated with Kenneth Gid-dens. The first, WKRG, the Mobile-based radio and TV operation he created and directed, became one of the finest broadcast operations in the South.

The second is VOA, the Voice of America. From 1969 to 1974 - a time when the nation faced one of its greatest periods of turmoil and upheaval - Giddens was charged with the responsibility of running the agency to which 43 million people around the world turned for information about the United States. His predecessors included Edward R. Murrow and John Chancellor. Like them, Giddens was entrusted with one of the most important elements of U.S. foreign policy.

Born in Pine Apple, Alabama, and educated at Auburn University, Giddens used his architectural training to build a three-state chain of theaters. He became interested in broadcasting while buying radio ads for his theaters, and with his family, organized and founded WKRG. He was a partner and developer of Bel Air Mall in Mobile, the city's first air-conditioned, enclosed mall.

A past president of the National Broadcasters Association and a member of its international committee, Giddens also served as president of the Alabama Broadcasters Association as well as on the boards of numerous civic organizations, both locally and nationally.

Kenneth Giddens will be remembered for his many contributions to Alabama and the nation through his outstanding leadership as a businessman, broadcaster, and public servant.