Susan Bundock

Class of 1982: American History TV

At Ripon College, Susan Bundock of Takoma Park, Maryland, developed an interest in politics. That passion, along with her love for writing, led to a 39-career with C-SPAN (Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network) in Washington, D.C. Her culminating position was as executive producer with C-SPAN’s American History TV.

Bundock was born in March 1960 in Highland Park, Illinois, and came to Ripon from Deerfield, Illinois. She was attracted by the small college, the small class sizes, and the ability to get to know her professors. “I went to a very big high school, and I really liked the idea and the feel of a small college,” she said.

“I realized as a kid I really loved to write, and at Ripon I discovered I loved politics. I was able to combine these interests into a self-designed major in politics and communication at Ripon with the help of a great adviser– Jack Christ.”

She honed the skills she would use in her future career: she wrote a political column for College Days, experimented with video journalism, worked for the WRPN radio station, and was a staff writer for the Fond du Lac Reporter community newspaper.

As a junior, she also participated in the Washington semester program and spent a semester studying in Washington, D.C. “That was a major factor in my decision to want to live and work here in Washington, D.C.,” she said. “During that semester, we met with a lot of adults working in the city and having the opportunity to meet them and hear about their jobs was very influential.”

A few months after graduating, she started as a production assistant at C-SPAN. “It was just beginning to expand its programming to 24 hours a day and employed about 40 people — it has grown to more than 200.”

Over the years, she held various positions, including field producer, covering Supreme Court confirmation hearings, international summits, political conventions, and presidential campaigns; studio control producer, booking guests and producing interviews; White House producer during the George H.W. Bush administration; and international producer, including video journalism projects in Saudi Arabia, Columbia, Turkey, Ghana and Cuba.

During her tenure as executive producer for C-SPAN’s American History TV, she produced 17 videos for the C-SPAN Video Library.

Because of her positive experience networking with professionals during her Washington Semester as a student, Bundock also hosted Ripon College students twice for Career Discovery Tours in 2015 and 2017. This program is held each semester and takes students to major U.S. cities to expand student-alumni career networking opportunities.

She retired from C-SPAN in 2021, and she received Ripon’s Distinguished Alumni Citation in 2022.

“I have basically spent my whole career at C-Span,” she said. “I’ve been assigned to produce all kinds of different subjects from history to politics to international affairs. A broad liberal arts education, even if you’re not an expert in any of those subjects, is extremely helpful — just having a general knowledge about a lot of different disciplines. The liberal arts education at Ripon, which required a great deal of writing and research, absolutely helped me in a career in journalism.”