Nexstar’s Chairman and CEO Perry Sook to be honored as Ohio University’s ‘Alumnus of the Year’

ATHENS, Ohio (WDTN) — The founder, chairman and CEO of WKBN’s parent company is set to be honored with a prestigious award from Ohio University.

This October, Nexstar Media Group, Inc.’s Chairman and CEO Perry Sook (’80) will be presented Alumnus of the Year by the Ohio University Alumni Association. It will be one of a dozen awards given to distinguished graduates of the school.

According to the university, Alumnus of the Year is the highest honor that can be given to an OHIO graduate.

Sook earned his Bachelor of Science in Communication in 1980. Sixteen years later, he founded Nexstar by starting with one local television station in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Nexstar has since become the largest local broadcast television operator in the United States.

“Perry truly exemplifies this award, and I can’t think of a more fitting tribute of his service to his alma mater,” said Nico Karagosian, vice president of Advancement at Ohio University and CEO of The Ohio University Foundation.

“He is a husband and father to an amazing family, the leader of a broadcast powerhouse, and yet he has made time to faithfully share his time and talent with Ohio University for more than two decades. We are all so thankful to know Perry, and his wife Sandy.”

Sook served The Ohio University Foundation Board of Trustees for more than 20 years, eight of them as its chair. He stepped down from the position in June 2023, as he was elected chairman of the Joint Board of Directors of the National Association of Broadcasters.

Sook also served on the campaign committees for both the Bicentennial and Promise Lives Campaigns for the college.

In 2018, the Perry and Sandy Sook Academic Center opened at Peden Stadium after Sook and his wife, Sandy, gave a donation supporting the development of an athletics facility with a collaborative study space.

“You can go through 10 lifetimes and not work with somebody quite like Perry,” said Timothy Busch, former Nexstar president of broadcasting, who nominated Sook.

“I don’t think I would be on the Ohio University Foundation Board if it wasn’t for Perry. I certainly wouldn’t have had the professional career and the success that we have had. His leadership style is unparalleled.”

Sook will be honored at the Alumni Awards Gala on Oct. 6 ahead of the university’s Homecoming football game the next day.