CRANFORD, NJ — Quinnipiac University’s School of Communications inducted its second hall of fame class on Saturday, Sept. 17.
The honorees were Rich Barry, Class of 1989, former vice president at Nickelodeon/Viacom; Ray Hernandez, Class of 2004, director of communications at Otis Elevator Co.; Meredith Klein, Class of 2005, head of consumer and product communications at Pinterest; and Bruce Taylor, Class of 1981, former director of photography at ESPN.
Barry, of Cranford, executive creative director for Speed Social Marketing, began his career working for Howard Stern in New York City. He moved to Nickelodeon/Viacom as a production coordinator. During his tenure there, he oversaw the promotional campaigns for ’90s television classics such as “Clarissa Explains It All,” “Nickelodeon Guts,” “Rugrats,” “Hey Arnold!” and “Legends of the Hidden Temple.” He also created a live interactive Halloween show called “Nick or Treat!” While at Nickelodeon, he helped create the live production team, which produced more than 1,300 episodes of live television. He was an executive producer and later a creative director for the Kids’ Choice Awards, overseeing the live pre-show from 2000 to 2009 and the entire international production from 2010 to 2018.
As Nick’s “chief slime officer,” Barry owned the original recipe for green slime and, at one time, held the Guinness World Record for the “Most People Simultaneously Slimed” – 762. In 2018, he struck out on his own, starting Speed Social Marketing, which combined his passion for motorsports with his knowledge of promotion and social media platforms.
“These four inductees are more than worthy of induction and serve as models for our current students,” said Chris Roush, dean of the School of Communications. “They have all taken what they learned at Quinnipiac and thrived in the communications world as industry leaders.”
Photo Courtesy of John Petit