Retired in 2014 from a career as a Producer and Stage Manager/Associate Director/Director (DGA) for KCBS 2 / KCAL 9 News in Los Angeles, Mr. Webb was actively involved in television production and university education for nearly five decades.
His honors and recognitions for his many years as a producer of public affairs television programs and community service involvements include the Associated Press Award for Excellence, Golden Mike Award Certificate of Excellence, the United Negro College Fund Distinguished Volunteer Service Citation, the California Teachers Association’s John Swett Award, the National Institute on Alcoholism & Alcohol Abuse Outstanding Community and Public Service Award, Certificate of Merit from the National Catholic Association of Broadcasters and Allied Communicators, a California State Senate Rules Committee Resolution, the Broadcast Media Award (twice honored) from San Francisco State University’s Broadcast Communication Arts Department, a Los Angeles City Council Resolution and the University of Georgia’s prestigious George Foster Peabody Award.
In November 2006, Mr. Webb was honored with the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award from the Black Hollywood Education and Resource Center (BHERC) at its 13th Annual African American Film Marketplace and S.E. Manly Short Film Showcase for “…Outstanding Service and Excellence in Television Production and Education and For Unwavering Commitment and Dedication to Diversity and Community Service.” In 2014 and 2016, he was named a Friend of Bennett College for Women by the Bennett College National Alumnae Association’s Southern California Chapter for “His Consistent Contributions to Southern California Student Scholarships.” In 2017, he was noted as a “Record Contributor and Scholarship Supporter – Loyal Friend of Bennett College.” Also, in May 2017, Mr. Webb was designated “Dr.” Webb with an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Bennett College (an HBCU institution) for his ongoing contributions to its Victor M. Webb / Rosetta C. Jefferson Scholarship Fund.
Presented by President Folt, Victor Webb was given the Robert P. Biller Service Award on December 2, 2019 for “… extraordinary service in retirement to the Caldwell Neighborhood Scholarship Program, USC students, the Retired Faculty Association, Staff Retirement Association and to the USC Emeriti Center.” The award was created in 2014 by the Retired Faculty Association and the Staff Retirement Association boards in honor of Bob Biller. Dr. Biller served the University as a faculty member and as a dean of numerous schools. After his retirement, he played a key role on the retired faculty Association board as well as a leader in the Emeriti Center. The special award is conferred upon any retired faculty or staff member at USC who has demonstrated extraordinary volunteer service in retirement.
Mr. Webb spent 20 years as adjunct faculty in the School of Journalism at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism (1988-2008). He served as a Visiting Professor at the University of Oregon’s Division of Broadcast Services (Summer 1969), was a tenure-tracked Assistant Professor in the Broadcast and Communication Arts Department at San Francisco State University (1968-1970) and was Adjunct Senior Lecturer and Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Radio-TV-Film Department, California State University at Long Beach (1977-1995).
Biographical Sketch
Mr. Webb appeared as an invited expert panelist for What’s News?: A National Dialogue, sponsored by the Verizon Corporation and Temple University’s School of Communications and Theater in cooperation with, televised and Internet streamed by WHYY-TV (PBS), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania / February 2006; and was the featured speaker on television news and the arts at the America Is A Great Arts Place (AGAP) Conference in Seattle, Washington / March 2006.
Mr. Webb has been quoted and illustrated in Dr. Herbert Zettl’s highly recognized and internationally used university text, Television Production Handbook, 3rd & 4th editions, Wadsworth Publishers, 1976/1984; and acknowledged in Directing & Producing for Television: A Format Approach, 2nd,3rd & 4th editions by Professor Ivan Cury, Focal Press, 2002, 2007 & 2017. Mr. Webb wrote a published cover endorsement for 24/7: How Cell Phones and the Internet Change the Way We Live, Work and Play by Professor Jarice Hanson, Ph.D., Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, Praeger Publishers, 2007.
He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Speech and English from Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, 1966; a Master of Science degree in Speech, Radio-TV / Broadcast Communications from the University of Oregon in Eugene, 1968 (National Defense of Education Act (NDEA) Research Grant recipient for Master’s thesis, A Content Analytic Study: The Portrayal of Political Characters in Television Drama). He also holds a Certificate in Photography from King’s College at the Royal College of Art, London, England (1988).
Mr. Webb’s academic, professional and community service memberships include the Directors Guild of America (DGA), USC Retired Faculty Association (former chair, RFA Dr. Russell L. Caldwell Neighborhood Scholarship Program), Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (Educational Programs & Services Committee), Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Japanese American National Museum, California African American Museum, Chinese American Museum, National Museum for African American History & Culture (Charter member), Smithsonian Institute, Museum of African American Art Los Angeles and the ACLU. He is an ongoing donor to the United Negro College Fund, Inner City Youth Orchestra LA, National Association of Black Journalists LA Scholarship Program, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Scholarship, Xavier University of Louisiana PreMedical Program, Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, National Alliance on Mental Illness – Urban LA, Southern Poverty Law Center, Dr. Stuart W. Hyde Student Internship Fund in the Broadcast and Electronic Communication Arts Department at San Francisco State University and the Miriam McFall Starlin Poetry Fellowship for Women (Creative Writing Program) at the University of Oregon.