Article authored by Universty of Indianapolis Alumni Magazine
Amber Stearns cam to the University of Indianapolis planning to major in music, but she discovered her true passion in the communication department’s Electronic Media concentration, the same program that claims Miss America Katie Stam as a student.
Now Stearns is living her dream as a reporter/anchor at the state’s longtime radio news powerhouse, 93.1 WIBC-FM, where in a typical day she delivers three newscasts, as well as hosts the “Indianapolis Today” lunchtime news magazine show.
“I love to talk and interview and interact with people,” she says. “I really feel that I’m working to my strengths here at WIBC.”
After graduating from UIndy in 1995, Stearns gained professional experience at WWKI in Kokomo, WCJC in Marion and WZWZ in Kokomo, where she served as news director. She liked the work and the community, but she was immediately interested when she learned of an opportunity at WIBC, anchor of an Emmis Communications media portfolio that stretches across the United States and Europe.
“When this opportunity came, I couldn’t pass it up,” she says. “My hometown is Indy, and I grew up listening to WIBC.”
But Stearns still feels a debt to her alma mater, which she pays in part by serving as president of the UIndy Alumni Association. She says the role complements her full-time job at Emmis, a company consistently cited among the “Best Places to Work in Indiana.”
“I take UIndy’s motto of ‘Education for Service’ to heart, and Emmis is a company that is a model of a business for service,” she says. “I love my job, get to meet new people all the time and work with a fantastic group of people.”