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Kenneth Eugene Hadwiger, age 83 of Charleston, Illinois, died on Sunday, December 1, 2019, at Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center.
Ken was born on July 18, 1936 in Alva, Oklahoma, on the hottest day on record in that state (122⁰ F). He was raised on the family farm where his parents Claude L. and Edith D. (Hamann) Hadwiger returned after the Great Depression interrupted their lives in California. He attended one year at Short Springs School, a one room school located on one of their farms, before transferring to the Sacred Heart School, a private Catholic grade school in Alva. He attended high school at Alva High School and at Orange County High School in California. After high school, Ken attended Oklahoma State where he received his bachelor's degree in 1959, the State University of Iowa for his master's degree in 1960 and received his Ph.D. in 1964 from the University of Oklahoma.
In 1958, Ken married Diane Camille Tate and they had two sons, Michael Eugene and Mark Andrew.
While pursuing his studies, he worked as disk jockey and newsman for many regional radio stations in Oklahoma, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri. In 1960, he served two years as director of radio-TV-film at Wichita State University where he licensed and installed the university's public broadcasting system.
Dr. Hadwiger located to Charleston in 1964 and accepted a position with Eastern Illinois University to develop a media curriculum and oversee the student radio station. He progressed through EIU's academic ranks to professor and with help from EIU's Laboratory School and the Charleston community, he raised his two sons to maturity.
In 1968 Dr. Hadwiger was chosen to be assistant dean in the College of Arts and Sciences in charge of 12 academic departments. He served as acting dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and later was appointed dean of the Graduate School and Research at EIU.
In 1970, he took a summer sabbatical leave from EIU for a lecture tour sponsored by the United States Information Agency, U.S. State Department. The success of that tour spawned a lifelong opportunity and interest in international scholarship and diplomacy. His early lectures included East Germany (behind the "Iron Curtain") and West Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Denmark, Belgium, France, Portugal, Sweden and Luxembourg.
In 1981, Ken married Pam Schenke. They had no children together and she accompanied him on some of his international tours. Later in his career, he lectured and advised fledgling university communication curricula in China, Singapore, Japan and Thailand. He served as Distinguished Visiting Professor at Taiwan's National Normal University in Kaohsiung. His lectures primarily were about U.S. "free speech" policies and laws. They received wide recognition and were widely published abroad. He also experienced some heckling and occasionally, his lectures were barred in various conservative or dictatorial nations. He was singled out for special honors by the Swiss government broadcast system (+SR), the USIS, and several professional organizations in both Europe and Asia.
Ken had two brothers: Donald F. Hadwiger, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of Government at Iowa State University and agricultural advisor to President John F. Kennedy, who predeceased him; Lee A. Hadwiger, Ph.D., internationally published professor of plant pathology at Washington State University, who survives.
Ken is also survived by three grandchildren, Sara Banahan and husband Jason, Thomas Hadwiger and Jessica Hadwiger; and a great-grandson, Darrow Banahan. They are the children and grandchild of his son Dr. Michael E. Hadwiger and wife Gayla Laverty Hadwiger. His other son, Dr. Mark Andrew Hadwiger, predeceased him.
Ken took a full measure of life and loved the scholarly environment of international university life. More than 100 of his writings were published, he was directly responsible for acquiring more than $4.5 million in research funds for EIU faculty projects, and he was an early and adamant supporter of communication technologies, especially the "internet". He was invited to testify before U.S. Congressional committees on matters of communication and transportation. He was especially proud of certain awards such as Outstanding Professor of Media by television's C-SPAN, a small computerized lab named by his peers in his honor in EIU's Coleman Hall and various "Founder" titles from international organizations within his academic discipline.
He was an avid sailor and enjoyed sailing in the Caribbean and the Atlantic. In retirement, he spent time each year sailing his 35-foot sloop from his vacation home on Oak Island, North Carolina. He was also a licensed aviation pilot (1967) and continued flying his Piper Cherokee until a few years before his death.
Ken was most proud of his sons who both earned their Ph.D. degrees and became reputable scholars. Michael is employed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Mark was employed by an intellectual properties company at the time of his death. He hopes that his grandchildren will earn that quality of scholarly service.
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