From fighting for truth, battling maternal mortality or researching what forms individuals’ political beliefs, three former Hilltoppers will be inducted into the WKU Hall of Distinguished Alumni (HODA) Class of 2024, WKU announced on Thursday.

The Hall’s Class of 2024 will include:

• Al Cross (‘75)
• Joy Hamilton Marini (‘83)
• David C. Wilson (‘93)

The title “distinguished alumni” is the highest recognition WKU offers its former Hilltoppers. The award is given to those who have made outstanding achievements after their time on the Hill, having made significant contributions to their area of expertise and possessing high integrity and character.

“Western Kentucky University is proud to celebrate the extraordinary achievements of our newest HODA inductees,” university spokesperson Jace Lux said. “These three individuals exemplify the spirit of innovation, leadership and dedication that define our Hilltopper community. Their remarkable contributions to their professions and society inspire current and future generations to pursue excellence and make a meaningful mark on the world.”

Al Cross

Cross, who is also celebrating his first day of retirement, has worked in the field of journalism since his time at WKU, fighting for truth in a democratic society.

Cross said that he initially chose to come to WKU because of its broadcasting program and to be on campus with friends. Cross took a radio and television-speaking course, where he looked to enhance his voice in news reading. However, he never received callbacks from Bowling Green radio or television stations for weekend job opportunities, which left him discouraged.

So, the next semester Cross took an introduction to journalism course, where he was assigned a beat covering alumni affairs, where he got to meet the director of alumni, Lee Robertson, and his, Gary Ransdell. During this time, he was commuting to a job in Albany, Kentucky, which left him with little time to find stories in Bowling Green for his class.

“So I came up with a gimmick,” Cross said. “My gimmick was to aggregate.”

Cross compiled reports from multiple news sources to be used in his column called “This Week at Western” for Clinton County news. One source he regularly pulled from was the College Heights Herald.

Bob Adams, who was an advisor at the Herald at the time, noticed Cross had been sourcing from the Herald’s stories without attributing them with their authors.

“Instead of objecting to my plagiarism, they offered me a job as a copy editor because they could see, in some cases, I was improving what I’d read in the Herald,” Cross said.

And so began a career in journalism that encompassed various jobs and focuses.

After graduating from WKU, Cross went on to work at several small newspapers in Kentucky before joining the Louisville Courier-Journal, where he worked for 26 years. About 15 years of his time at the Courier-Journal was as a political writer (1989-2004). It was in this position, he said, that he became a sort of public figure himself as he covered prominent public officials.

“I think there are a lot of other people who are more distinguished than I am,” Cross said in reference to being inducted into the Hall. “I have the advantage of being a public person.”

In 1989, Cross shared a Pulitzer Prize with the Courier-Journal staff for its coverage of the 1988 Carrollton bus crash. In 2001-02, he served as president of the Society of Professional Journalists — the only Kentuckian to date to hold that position. Then, in 2010, he was inducted into the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame.

Following his time with the Courier-Journal, Cross found new ground at the University of Kentucky, where he served as both a professor in its School of Journalism and Media and as the director of its Institute for Rural Journalism.

Cross attributes his long career and work ethic to his father, who worked until just a few weeks before his death. Cross, now 70 years old, said that he could have retired long ago, but he has enjoyed what he was doing.

“I expect I will always be pursuing some sort of knowledge or service as long as I’m on this planet,” Cross said.

Every challenge in life is an opportunity, Cross said, and the trick to finding success is being attuned to when opportunities arise.

“You have to be able to sense an opportunity, and when you sense it, you need to be ready to take it, and don’t be afraid of it,” Cross said. “Even if you wind up not pursuing that thread, or you fail at it, you have learned something.

“Always let your reach exceed your grasp.”

Joy Hamilton Marini

Marini is Senior Direct

or of Maternal Health for the Office of the Chief Medical Officer for Johnson & Johnson, a multinational corporation that makes pharmaceuticals, over the counter products, and medical devices. Marini is responsible for Johnson & Johnson’s international programs on infant and maternal health, child health and women and girls empowerment.

Marini’s work seeks to reduce maternal mortality both domestically and abroad by leading partnerships with different governments and with national and community-based organizations.

One such public-private partnership she developed was “Born on Time” with Global Affairs Canada and Bangladesh, Ethiopia and Mali. The initiative, implemented in 2016, sought to combat the risk factors that can lead to newborn deaths by training healthcare providers, strengthening referral systems and improving healthcare facilities.

Before joining Johnson & Johnson, Marini was a physician assistant in family medicine and geriatrics. She held various roles at Bristol-Myers Squibb and was a part of the public relations divisions of Omnicom and Grey Advertising, WKU said.

During her time on the Hill in the early 80s, Marini received a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture and Animal Science. In her free time, she was a member of Alpha Delta Pi, the Panhellenic Association, the Equestrian Team, and she served as a Spirit Master.

After receiving her undergraduate degree from WKU, Marini went on to obtain her MBA in Business from Rider University and her Physician Assistant degree from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, where she received Alumni of the Year in 2012.

David C. Wilson

Wilson is the dean and a professor of the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California Berkeley. Wilson is a career political psychologist whose research examines how people make their political preferences and how polling questions can affect voter responses.

Wilson is a co-author of the 2022 book Racial Resentment in the Political Mind, which examines how racial resentment, not just racial prejudice, continues to lead to greater resistances among white Americans to improve circumstances faced by racial minorities.

He holds life memberships in several organizations including the American Political Science Association, the International Society for Political Psychology and the National Conference for Black Political Scientists.

Along with his long list of academic achievements, WKU said, Wilson served in the U.S. Army Reserves for 19 years, having combat tours for Operations Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom.

During his time on the Hill in the early 90s, he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Government and he was a sports columnist for the Herald. Wilson also received his Masters in Political Science, Public Administration and a Ph.D. in Political Science from Michigan State University.

News reporter Cameron Shaw can be reached at [email protected].