After 14 years as a faculty member, retired UH professor Kenneth Richard Macdonald Short had left his mark on the University before he died on July 30, 2007 at the age of 71.
Short, a former director of the School of Communication, suffered severe injuries from an accident that took place outdoors near his home in Clark, Colo.
"Professor Short was a very good and dear friend," communication professor Garth S. Jowett said. "His scholarship and friendship was very important to me."
Jowett said he regarded Short with the utmost respect.
Short was a professor of communication at UH from 1987 until his retirement in 2001.
Before arriving at the University, Short was a senior lecturer in history at the Westminster College in Oxford, UK from 1970 to 1987. Short received his doctorate in philosophy at Oxford and held a prestigious position at the school.
According to colleagues and close friends, he set a great example for others.
Communication Professor Emeritus Robert B. Musburger said he modeled much of his career at the University after Short’s professional example.
"(Short) became one of several mentors who assisted my academic development at UH and the road to tenure," Musburger said. "Later, I followed him as director of the School of Communication, and I relied on his advice during turbulent times at UH."
He influenced many UH communication professors by his collaborative work with Jowett and David Culbert, Jowett said.
The 14-book series, eight of which Short either wrote or edited, was titled the History of Mass Communication and became staples for the communication field.
Outside of the University, Short enjoyed volunteering at his church and served as an assistant minister at a local Episcopal church in Kingwood. His wife, Mary Jane Short, was a member of the church’s choir.
While in Oxford, Short was an ordained Anglican minister.
Among his accomplishments, Short was also the founder and editor of the Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, which was published quarterly in Oxford.
The Historical Journal was a leading journal devoted to the history of mass communication and went to scholars and research libraries, Culbert, a friend and colleague of Short, said.
Short was also known to be a tough and straightforward professor.
"He expected (his UH) students to work to the standards of Oxford," Jowett said. "He was very difficult to enjoy, but he loved working with the students. He just had high standards and was tough to get along with."
The Ken Short Memorial Fund was established in his honor and contributions can be sent to St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, P.O. Box 770722, Steamboat Springs, Colo., 80487.
Short is survived by his wife and two sons, Donald and Douglas Short.
"It was a very moving service," Donald Short said of his father’s funeral. "The noonday fog horns went off – a sort of 21-gun salute – and sounded like the horns that alerted Londoners in World War II. Dad would’ve liked that."
