Alumnus Leon Bibb Wins Chuck Heaton Award

By Chelsea Schroeder

Leon Bibb ’66 came to BGSU to become a journalist, and after returning for graduate school ‘71 and many jobs later, is receiving the Chuck Heaton Award from the Press Club of Cleveland.   

The Chuck Heaton Award is one of the biggest honors awarded each year by the Press Club of Cleveland and is bestowed upon the print, radio, online or television journalist who best exemplifies sensitivity and humility, traits exhibited by Chuck Heaton during his career as a sports writer at The Plain Dealer.  

“It means a great deal to win this award because it is given to people who have done things outside of their profession to benefit people in the community,” said Bibb. “I give my time, my talent and heart to worthwhile organizations, and individuals, trying to do beneficial things in the Cleveland and Akron area because it is the right thing to do.”  

Bibb was a former Board of Trustees chairman at BGSU and gives back to his community by speaking in various schools, helping with the Salvation Army and giving his time to organizations that may need extra help.  

“I have done good in my profession, but what I can do to help other people and do something where I don’t get paid is what truly matters,” said Bibb.

Bibb graduated from BGSU in ’66 with his undergraduate degree in Broadcast Journalism and was drafted into the Army soon after. He was deployed to Vietnam to serve for two years, and during his second year there, Bibb applied for and was accepted to graduate school at BGSU.  

Throughout his career, Bibb has held many different jobs. He worked at The Cleveland Plain Dealer as a reporter right after undergraduate school, and worked at WBGU-TV as a producer for a newscast for two years while pursuing his graduate degree. Soon after, he was hired as a television reporter at WTOL in Toledo from 1971-72.

In 1977, Bibb went to the Columbus-based television station, WCMH, where he was the first African-American TV news anchor in the state of Ohio.

From Columbus, Bibb went to Cleveland’s WKYC-TV3, where he worked from 1979-1995. He left there to go to WEWS-TV5 in Cleveland, where he was the first black primetime anchor in Ohio. He retired from WEWS (TV5) in Cleveland in 2017.  

“I had good professors at BGSU who taught me how to be a better journalist and student,” said Bibb. “I stand on the shoulders of family, professors and other people who have helped me as a professional.”

In addition to Cleveland Press Club’s recent award, Bibb has been inducted into the BGSU Journalism Hall of Fame, the National Association of Black Journalists, the Ohio’s Broadcaster’s Hall of Fame and has earned numerous Emmy Awards.  

“I am very humbled to receive the Chuck Heaton award, but what is important to me is that I do things in my life that benefit other people—I believe in helping those who need help.”  

Bibb is married to his “Falcon Flame” Marguerite who also received her undergraduate and graduate degrees’ from BGSU.  

Earlier this fall (2018), Bibb returned to WKYC-TV3 to do special reports and commentary “that puts a spotlight on people and places in northeast Ohio.”

“I have been blessed with a talent and love in my life and I want to give to the community because the community has given so much to me” said Bibb. “I would love to leave world a better place than the one I was born into.”