Communications Honors Its Best and Brightest

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 25, 2009) – Dan Liebman, vice president of the Blood Horse Publications and editor-in-chief of The Blood Horse, recently received the Outstanding Alumni Award from the UK College of Communications and Information Studies (CCIS). This award, along with many others that recognize faculty, staff and students of the college, was presented at the 2009 Recognition Ceremony and Awards Dinner on Nov. 20. 

Liebman, who graduated with a degree in journalism from UK in 1985,  oversees editorial content, both print and digital, of this leading thoroughbred industry weekly magazine and of the Web site. Liebman also writes a weekly column on issues pertaining to thoroughbred owners and breeders.  Prior to being named editor-in-chief, Liebman was the research director at The Blood-Horse (1993-1998) and then executive editor (1998-2007).  Before joining The Blood-Horse, he was Midwest deputy editor for The Racing Times (1991-1993) and a columnist for Daily Racing Form (1984-1991).

Liebman serves as a member of the School of Journalism and Telecommunications Advisory Board. He is a regular sponsor of the school's Bids for Brains fundraiser, with their contributions going to support the Joe Hirsch Scholarship. The Blood-Horse has also hosted several of the Hirsch Scholarship winners as interns.

Liebman taught a course in the School of Journalism and Telecommunications on writing for the equine industry and has been helpful in providing guidance and structure for a possible certificate program in equine writing that the school is considering offering.  Liebman  also hosts the school’s summer journalism workshop for high school students.

The college also honored many students, faculty and staff members at the recognition dinner. The honors include:

-- Friend of the College: Patrick Mutchler, a 1976 journalism graduate, is a company group chairman of Johnson & Johnson. Mutchler joined Johnson & Johnson in 1976 as a sales representative. He held a variety of increasingly responsible positions in both consumer and OTC sales before being named vice president of sales for the personal products company in 1993.

Mutchler currently serves on the Retail Industry Leaders Association Board of Directors, the Business Council for the Asia Society, the Catholic Medical Missions Board of Directors and the Corporate Board of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of Abington Friends School and an executive sponsor of the Women’s Leadership Initiative.

-- Friend of the College: Charles Brymer, a 1981 telecommunications graduate, joined DDB Worldwide, the largest consolidated advertising and marketing company in the world according to Advertising Age, in April 2006 as president and CEO. In this role, he is responsible for overseeing the operations of the network’s more than 200 offices in over 90 countries. 

A strong believer in powerful ideas that result in creative business solutions, Brymer priorly joined Interbrand in New York in 1985 as the president of its U.S. business and became chairman and CEO of the global company in 1994. He was instrumental in the strategic development of the company and in building its interests around the world.  These accomplishments included the growth of other leading companies within Interbrand such as Design Forum and BrandWizard.

-- Teaching Excellence: Mel Coffee, assistant professor in the School of Journalism and Telecommunications, primarily teaches courses in radio and television news reporting and in advanced television news producing. He also developed and oversees the current student newscast in the broadcast journalism sequence which will become a daily newscast, Monday through Thursday, starting in the spring 2010 semester. His student nominator described Coffee as “someone that will walk into a classroom and not leave until everyone can understand the material.  Mel puts us through real life newsroom experiences, he is always available to his students, and most importantly he cares about each and every student in his class.”

-- Outstanding Staff: Linda Mudge is a staff assistant in the Department of Communication. Her nominator states, “since coming to the department, faculty, staff, and students alike have had nothing but glowing comments about her performance.”

Mudge started in the education field when she went to work at the Advising and Assessment Center at Lexington Community College in 1998.  She moved to UK in 2004. 

This award has been presented annually since 1995. It recognizes outstanding contributions of a staff member in the college.

-- Faculty Research: Elisia Cohen, assistant professor of communication, publishes in the areas of health and risk communication. She is the author of research articles appearing in Communication Research Reports, Communication Methods & Measures, Journal of Applied Communication Research, Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, Health Communication, Health Education & Behavior, New Media & Society and Tobacco Control. She also currently serves as book review editor for the International Communication Association’s flagship journal, Journal of Communication.

Cohen’s research develops theory and practice to improve cancer risk communication, and to better understand the relationship between media and social influence. Her investigations focus on identifying ways to improve media representations and public understandings of health risks, particularly in the context of cancer risk communication and tobacco control. 

-- Faculty Research: Thomas Lindlof is a professor in the School of Journalism and Telecommunications. He previously served as chair of UK’s Department of Telecommunications, and is currently the coordinator of the telecommunications undergraduate major program. Lindlof’s research and graduate teaching focus on the cultural analysis of media and qualitative methodology in communication.  His research has been published in numerous scholarly outlets, including the journals Communication Research, Journalism Quarterly, Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, and Journal of Communication. He is often cited for his development of the theory of interpretive communities and its application to media audiences.  In addition, Lindlof has authored or edited five books.  His book, "Qualitative Communication Research Methods," is the most widely used textbook on qualitative research in the communication discipline.  His latest book, "Hollywood under Siege: Martin Scorsese, the Religious Right, and the Culture Wars," published by the University Press of Kentucky, was praised by The Los Angeles Times, The Times Literary Supplement, and many other reviewers. 

-- Faculty Community Service: Deanna Sellnow, the Gifford Blyton endowed professor and director of Undergraduate Studies in Communication, has published and presented her scholarship in international, national, regional, and state venues. She focuses her scholarship in two areas: instructional communication and assessment, and popular culture and communication.  She has conducted workshops for professional groups and university faculty across the country.  Since arriving at the university in 2007, she has served or is serving on the General Education Reform steering committee, the Institutional Effectiveness Group that helps prepare for the upcoming reaffirmation of accreditation with SACS, the Undergraduate and Graduate Councils, the Undergraduate Student Success Committee, the Social Sciences Area Committee for Promotion and Tenure, the associate provost for Undergraduate Studies' advisory council of associate deans and directors, and serves as chair of the Department of Communication's Curriculum and Assessment Committee. 

Students receiving scholarships include: Erin West, recipient of the Hallie Day Blackburn Scholarship; Kristan McCullum, recipient of the Clarence E. and Edna Horn Johnson Scholarship; Nick Stacy, recipient of the Judith G. Clabes Scholarship; Samantha Brown, recipient of the Communication-Outstanding Junior award; Andrew Trimble, recipient of the Communication-Outstanding Senior award; Emilee Dover, recipient of the CIS Endowed Scholarship; Courtney Thomas, recipient of the Maria Braden Scholarship; Katharine Head, recipient of the R. Lewis Donohew Fellowship; Shelly Valentine, recipient of the Rick Roth Scholarship; Lindsey Hancock, recipient of the Shirley Rose Scholarship; Stephanie Van Stee, recipient of the Sypher Memorial Graduate Scholarship; and Mitchael L. Schwartz, recipient of the Bruce Westley Memorial Graduate Scholarship.