Rick Ludwin, prominent Miami alum, dies at 71

Rick Ludwin, Miami alumnus and former NBC executive, died Sunday, Nov. 10, in Los Angeles.

He was 71.

Ludwin, who was raised in the Cleveland suburb Rocky River and graduated from Miami in 1970 with a degree in mass communication, visited Miami every year. He delivered lectures, spoke to media classes and discussed the entertainment industry with students.

After leaving Miami, where he hosted the talk show “Studio 14” for the school’s WPDT Channel 14, Ludwin worked at NBC for 30 years as an executive in charge of late night programming and specials. The Hollywood Reporter deemed him a champion of the 1990s sitcom “Seinfeld,” which may not have been greenlit without Ludwin’s influence.

“The entire NBC family is deeply saddened today by the news of Rick Ludwin’s passing,” George Cheeks, NBCUniversal Content Studios vice chairman, said Monday. “Rick left an indelible mark in his 30-plus years at the network, with a rich legacy that lives on to this day.”

Sarah Emery (Miami 2018) said the first time she met Ludwin in person, he was wearing a Miami Department of Media, Journalism and Film polo.

“I remember thinking it was so surreal that someone who was so influential with shows like ‘Seinfeld’ and ‘SNL’ and celebrities like Conan O’Brien and Johnny Carson seemed most proud of the fact that he was a Miami University graduate from northern Ohio,” Emery said.

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