Randall Capps
Dr. Randall “Randy” Capps joined the English Department at Western Kentucky University in 1962 after teaching two years at Bardstown High School. He graduated from Kentucky Wesleyan College, earned the Master’s degree from WKU and earned his doctoral degree from the University of Virginia. He also studied as a postdoctoral student at Vanderbilt. He began his long legacy as an instructor in the English Department. He next became the first head of the Department of Communication which was formed in 1968. The Department of Communication served as the originating department for theatre, broadcasting and communication disorders. He served as Assistant to the President under President Donald Zacharias and later served as interim head of the Department of Psychology. He later became a faculty member in the Gordon Ford College of Business where he taught MBA students and students in the doctoral program in educational leadership, teaching and advising students in organizational leadership. He served many years as a visiting faculty member at the university of Lyon, France teaching in their college of business.
He received a grant from the General Motors Educational Foundation to study leadership and communication practices among executives at GM. He is the author of nine books, mostly on communication and leadership. In 1994 he founded and became president of Leadership Strategies Group which works with corporate and non-profit organizations in strategy and leadership across the United States.
Dr. Capps received many university awards and has been recognized by the Bowling Green Warren county Chamber of Commerce and an outstanding Global Advocate. He was honored by Kentucky Wesleyan College with the Outstanding Alumnus award and later was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Kentucky Wesleyan College. He has served on numerous boards including Kentucky Wesleyan College, River Valley Behavioral Health which he chaired for fifteen years. He served as National president of Sigma Nu fraternity and served on the board for fifteen years. He was a member and served on the board of Omicron Kappa Delta, an honorary leadership fraternity. He served as president of the Bowling Green Rotary Club and served the United Methodist Church at local and national levels. He married Joan Gray in 1961 and they have a daughter, Jill, who graduated from WKU with a major in Communication. His son, John, died in 2004, Joan passed away in 2017, and Dr. Randall Capps passed away on February 2, 2022.
To honor his legacy at WKU, H. Oliver established the Randall Capps Scholarship Fund in 1984. That fund has grown to assist many deserving students in pursuing their educational goals. Through this fund Dr. Randall Capps Legacy lives on the Hill in perpetuity.