Jack Heather was born December 23, 1924 in Lordsburg, New Mexico. He earned his Bachelor's degree in Communication from the University of Texas at El Paso and his Master's degree in radio and television from the University of Denver. He was hired at Fort Hays Kansas State College in 1950 to develop the radio curriculum and to provide students with proper experience and training for the broadcasting industry.

Heather was instrumental in developing the broadcasting curriculum and programming at Fort Hays. He initially taught radio broadcasting and speech out of the Speech Department. In 1956, the curriculum was revised to include television broadcasting. After initially partnering with KCKT-TV in Great Bend, Kansas, from 1956 to 1961, the college began to broadcast television programs over KAYS-TV in Hays, Kansas, in 1960. Heather and his students would meet at the KAYS studio in the early morning while the station was off the air to use the station's equipment to learn and to produce television programs. They typically met after 1 AM during the week and from 6 AM to 8 AM on Sundays. In February 1962, KFHS, the Fort Hays State College campus radio station, began broadcasting. The radio-television operation moved to Malloy Hall in 1965. Closed circuit television was added in 1969 and later converted to color in 1979. By 1977 when the college became Fort Hays State University, Heather remained the only radio and television broadcasting instructor at the university. In 1978, he was named Director of Closed Circuit Television. He was a member of Phi Kappa Phi, the Broadcast Education Association, and the Kansas Association of Broadcasters.

In 1981, a small building was erected between Forsyth Library (now Tebo Library) and Malloy Hall to house the KFHS Radio/TV News Room and the Informatics Department. The building was renamed Heather Hall in 1986 in honor of Jack Heather. In the fall of 2013, the name Heather Hall was transferred to a new co-ed dormitory. The original Heather Hall/Radio Television Building was demolished in 2014. The current Heather Hall is part of the Tiger Place complex.

Jack Heather retired from Fort Hays State University in 1988 after 38 years of service. In 1995, the university began awarding the annual Jack & Peggy Heather Scholarship in his honor to a student majoring in telecommunications. Jack Heather died on August 26, 2011.