Radio One’s Cathy Hughes will address Bowie State’s spring graduates - May 21

(Bowie, Maryland) - Radio One’s Cathy Huges will address more than 600 graduates during Bowie State University’s spring commencement on May 21 at 10 a.m. at the Bulldog stadium.
This year Bowie State will commemorate its 145th anniversary as Maryland’s oldest HBCU and one of the oldest in the nation. The BSU community will celebrate more than 600 graduates during this year’s spring commencement. Graduates will receive degrees in more than 40 academic programs administered by the University’s College of Education, Business, Professional Studies, and Arts and Sciences. Catherine Liggins Hughes will give the commencement address and is receiving an honorary degree from Bowie State University.
Catherine “Cathy” Liggins Hughes has been Chairperson of the board of directors and Secretary of Radio One since 1980, and was Chief Executive Officer of Radio One from 1980 to 1997. She was one of the founders of Radio One’s predecessor company in 1980. Since 1980 she has worked in various capacities for Radio One, one of the largest African American-owned and operated broadcast companies in the United States. There are now 53 radio stations in 16 markets and a cable network, TV One.
In May 1999, Cathy Hughes and her son Alfred Liggins, President and CEO, took their company public. Hughes made history again by becoming the first African American woman with a company on the stock exchange. Radio One’s value is currently in excess of two billion dollars. In 2000, Black Enterprise magazine named Radio One, “Company of the Year,” Fortune magazine rated it one of the “100 Best Companies to Work For,” and Radio One was inducted into the Maryland Business Hall of Fame.