I am so saddened by this loss. Professor Wardrip was such a great person and always so positive. I can say that without a doubt, I would not be living in New York today and doing what I am doing if it were not for his influence on my life - as a professor and as a friend.

When I was a student at Carolina, his Introduction to Advertising class opened up a world of interest to me - as he taught us the basics of advertising, but also always ensured that we were up to speed on the current events by requiring us to subscribe to Advertising Age magazine (and then testing us on its contents).

I also took part in the Maymester trip to New York City, where in four days he exposed us to some of the best advertising agencies in the world. Almost all USC students spoke to us while we were on our trip, which is something that Professor Wardrip took such pride in.

I'll never forget sitting in his hotel room and explaining how I really thought that I wanted to move to New York and try to get a job in advertising. As we were talking, his wife called to see how he was doing. To my surprise, he did not ask me to leave, but instead told his wife that he was meeting with me and asked if he could call her back.

I think that is symbolic of the kind of man that he was. He was so committed and interested in students. If it was important enough to me that I would go to my professor's room to talk, then it was just as important to him too.

He instilled the confidence in me that a kid from a small town in South Carolina had just as good a chance as anyone to make it in New York. He just helped put us in a situation to make it even more possible.

My first day at Ogilvy & Mather, all of the new summer hires were handed the book "Ogilvy on Advertising" to read. Everyone in the room had to go back and read the book - except me. I had already read it and been tested on it in Professor Wardrip's class.

Living in NYC, I always look forward to meeting with the classes and seeing Professor Wardrip every May, first at Ogilvy, and then at my current job at mcgarrybowen.

Although he did not make the trip this past May, the first thing I did after meeting with the class was to take a picture with my digital camera and email it back to him (the picture is something that is tradition for every stop on the trip).

He hated not making the trip this year, but he knew that the program was in good hands. I will continue to meet with the students in the future and do whatever else I can to always ensure of that.

I knew Jon because he had a wonderful gift of developing cross-campus partnerships... especially if he thought it would benefit his students.

As the USC Career Center's former liaison to the School of Journalism, Jon and I talked about ways that we could better serve students. Jon had a genuine desire to help students get beyond theory and understand practice. He genuinely wanted students to understand " the real world" and he knew that included a need for career exploration and career preparation. Not quite a year ago Jon requested that I present a career workshop for Ad/PR students. He was so excited at the prospect of helping his students learn more about how they could find internships and jobs in their chosen fields. At the end of the presentation he was literally hopping up and down with enthusiasm as he encouraged students to take advantage of the Career Center's resources.

I sometimes saw students in tears after they spoke with Jon about their future. He had a way of scaring students silly about their career path and they often came running to our office worried about whether or not they had what it takes to make it in this competitive market. What they didn't know was that more often than not Jon was quite confident that they would succeed. His "scare tactics" were intentional and he knew a little fear would help to refine them and drive them to work harder. Jon was a realist and he wanted to make sure his students were headed into the world with their eyes wide open. More than once I found myself saying to a student "Well, he got you to our office didn't he?," knowing fully that was his intent all along. I often wondered how many years it would take for students to look back on their interactions with Jon before they realized that by scaring them (by challenging them), he was really giving them a gift.

I appreciated Jon's support and the encouragement of the Career Center's role on this campus. I know that USC will not be quite the same without him. My sincere sympathy goes out to all his family and friends.

When I first met Jon Wardrip, I knew I was in contact with someone unlike any other. He was a man who commanded nothing less than the best from his students. Those who didn't, didn't receive sympathy, but the aggressive words that needed to be said to make you the best that you could be. I worked hard and earned his respect...and his friendship. It was his convincing recommendation that helped give me the push to represent the university as one of AAF's 2003 Top 25 Most Promising Advertising Students. I won't forget him or his influence. Thank you so much Jon. God bless.

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