BOSTON (AP) – Murray R. Yaeger, a Boston University professor of broadcasting and film who helped shape the careers of reporters, producers and directors, has died. He was 75.

Yaeger died of cancer at his home in Kennebunkport, Maine, on Sunday, said Kevin Carleton, a spokesman for Boston University.

Yaeger worked at BU from 1958 to 1988. In 1979, he was awarded the university’s Metcalf Prize for Excellence in Teaching, the school’s highest faculty honor. In 1997 he was honored by the College of Communication during its 50th anniversary as the faculty member with the greatest impact on students.

“After I got my first job in TV I would go back and talk to him. I just thought he was a real role model and a real good person and someone to really consider a mentor,” said Gary Tuchman, a CNN correspondent. Tuchman said he knew Yaeger when he studied journalism at BU, although he never took one of Yaeger’s courses.

“He had a wonderful reputation, people really enjoyed his class,” Tuchman said.

Yaeger was beloved by his students because he inspired them, said Denise Graveline, who studied under Yaeger from 1977 to 1981.

“He actually showed you things and provoked emotion and provoked thought and had you explore them and had you explore yourself and explore Boston,” Graveline said.

“To call Dr. Yaeger a dedicated professor is an understatement. He was obsessed with giving his students the opportunity to learn,” said Norman Moyes, a longtime colleague and associate professor of journalism at BU. “Our students were fortunate to have had him as a professor,” Moyes said.

Yaeger’s career also included teaching jobs at the University of Texas, the State University of Iowa, the University of Southern Maine and the University of New England.

Yaeger was a graduate of the University of Texas at El Paso and the State University of Iowa.

He is survived by his partner, Mark Bachelder, a chef in Kennebunkport and a brother, Lanny Yaeger, of Pennsylvania, whose hometown was not immediately available.

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