Illini Insider | Two alumni competed for same Emmy category

Jan. 9—Welcome to "Illini Insider," your regular dose of University of Illinois news from beat writer Luke Taylor. Fresh out of college himself, he's always looking for story tips, photo ideas and social media mentions. Email him at ltaylor@news-gazette.com and he'll give chase.

A bit of off-campus news: UI grad Nick Offerman ('93) received his first Emmy Award on Sunday.

He received Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for his appearance in "The Last of Us" series released last year, but you also might know him from "Parks and Recreation" or occasional visits to campus for fundraising events.

Another alumnus, Alan Ruck ('79), was nominated in the same category for his role as Connor Roy in "Succession."

Other alumni to receive Emmy Awards for acting include Barbara Bain ('50) who actually won three in a row for her role in the "Mission: Impossible" TV series and Arte Johnson ('49) who received several Emmys for his role on sketch-comedy production "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In."

Other Emmys have gone to folks who attended UI but did not graduate, not to mention dozens of nominations across the board.

Emmy Awards also cover fields outside of entertainment television, and UI is represented in those as well.

For example, Donald Bitzer (BS '55, MS '56, PhD '60), H. Gene Slottow (PhD '64), and Robert Willson (PhD '66) received the 2002 Scientific and Technological Emmy for inventing the plasma display panel that brought large flat-screen televisions into the home.

Quite a number of College of Media alumni have received regional awards, and newscaster Steve Osunsami ('93) has been nominated for or received several national Emmys.