As a student in 1948, Susan B. Hetherington attended the High School Journalism Institute at IU, where she later met and married her husband, Jim Hetherington. Jim was editor-in-chief of the Indiana Daily Student his senior year, and Sue was a reporter, who initiated a “500 Fever” column about the first Little 500. The couple graduated in 1953 from The Media School, formally known as the School of Journalism.
Jim went on to work for papers in Louisville and Indianapolis and for the WFBM stations in Indy. During his years at Channel 6, his work earned major national awards – such as Peabody, DuPont, and Sloan – for broadcast news excellence. He was the first broadcast journalist elected president of the Indianapolis Press Club. In 1976, Jim shifted into public relations and a 20-year career with American United Life as vice president for corporate communications.
In retirement, he authored four books about the people, history, and institutions of Indianapolis. Jim received the first ever PR Legend Award from the Indianapolis Public Relations Society in 2008, and was welcomed into the Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame in 2014.
After her graduation, Sue served as a high school teacher, a counselor to two Indiana Senators, a magazine editor, a non-profit executive, a philanthropist, and an advisor to three Indiana governors, service which in 1985 merited her recognition as a Sagamore of the Wabash. She led Prevent Blindness in Indiana for 18 years, championed the Indianapolis Propylaeum, advanced Goodwill Industries locally and nationally for four decades, and participated actively with Indy’s Fortnightly Literary Club for more than 50 years.
Their son, Robert, earned his journalism degree in 1977, and their granddaughter Abigail, a creative writer, musician, and performer, graduated from IU in May 2026.
The couple’s affection for their alma mater prompted them to establish the James and Susan Hetherington Scholarship. They were part of the post-WWII era, when war correspondent Ernie Pyle was a living memory.
The Hetheringtons also funded a Smithsonian-style timeline exhibit that marked The Media School’s first 100 years.