Alumni Awards
Alumni Awards
Each year, in conjunction with Homecoming, the School of Media and Journalism presents three alumni awards.
2019-20 Event:
To be Announced (Fall 2019)
William D. Taylor Award
The William D. Taylor Award Journalism Alumnus of the Year is the most prestigious award given by the School of Media and Journalism. It is presented at Homecoming to an alumnus/alumna who is well established and well respected in the media and communication industry and has given back to our students and/or the School. Since its inception in 1957, more than 65 distinguished alumni have become Taylor Awards winners, including:
| YEAR | NAME | TITLE/COMPANY |
| 1957 | Helen Wescott Dix | First President Journalism Alumni Association |
| 1958 | Frances E. Murphey | Akron Beacon Journal |
| 1959 | John Lewis Stage | Free Lance Photographer |
| 1960 | Loris C. Troyer | Kent Ravenna Record-Courier |
| 1961 | Kenneth F. Cole | Akron Beacon Journal |
| 1962 | Clement C. Scerback | U. S. Information Agency |
| 1963 | Paul P. Haney | Public Affairs Officer NASA |
| 1964 | Russell N. Baird | Professor of Journalism Ohio University |
| 1965 | August W. Quattrochi | General Electric Company |
| 1966 | William Schlemmer | Akron Beacon Journal |
| 1967 | John W. Mine | Associated Press |
| 1968 | Ann E. Gray | Akron City Hospital |
| 1969 | Edward Cliney | E. Edu Poul de Nemours |
| 1970 | Donald Kirkman | Scripps Howard Newspapers |
| 1971 | Frank Quine | Associated Press Institute |
| 1972 | Robert West | WJW Radio |
| 1973 | Albert Fitzpatrick | Akron Beacon Journal |
| 1974 | Robert Burdock | The Plain Dealer |
| 1975 | Robert Baumgardner | Griswold Eshleman Co. |
| 1976 | O Louis Mazzatenta | The National Geographic |
| 1977 | William Miller | Industry Week |
| 1978 | Donald Deer | American Standard Inc. |
| 1979 | W. Thomas Duke | B. F. Goodrich |
| 1980 | Luella Cordier | Record Courier |
| 1981 | Kenneth Halterman | WAKR |
| 1982 | Max Brown | Publisher Columbus Magazine |
| 1983 | David Meeker | President Meeker-Mayer Agency |
| 1984 | Robert McGruder | ME/NEWS Plain Dealer |
| 1985 | J. Ross Baughman | President Visions Photo Group |
| 1986 | Maynard Buck, Jr. | Newspaper Publisher Cadiz/Carrollton |
| 1987 | Charles Conconi | Columnist Washington Post |
| 1988 | Ted Henry | Co-Anchor News TV Channel 5 |
| 1989 | John Filo | Photographer Sports Illustrated |
| 1990 | Ron Sustana | Public Relations Consultant |
| 1991 | Carl Grant | Senior Vice President Chamber of Commerce |
| 1992 | Thomas Litwiler | Executive Assistant to the Chairman Westinghouse Electric |
| 1993 | William Girgash | APCOA |
| 1994 | Anthony May | Nieman May Communications |
| 1995 | Alice Weston | WKYC Television |
| 1996 | Nancy Lee | The New York Times |
| 1997 | Kenneth Goldstein | Professor Emeritus Columbia University |
| 1997 | Adelaide Snyder | Broadcast News Pioneer |
| 1997 | John Scott | New York Broadcasting and Executive |
| 1997 | Stanley Mouse | Retired CEO Cox Broadcasting |
| 1997 | Frances Waterbury | International Educator and Journalist |
| 1997 | Walt Seifert | Professor Emeritus Ohio State University |
| 1998 | David McGrail | Director Live with Regis & Kathy Lee |
| 1999 | Brian Tucker | President Plain Communications |
| 2000 | Ronald Clark | Editorial Page Editor Paul Pioneer Press |
| 2001 | Paul Tople | Akron Beacon Journal |
| 2002 | Richard Edwards | Consultant |
| 2002 | William Oliver | Vice President AT&T |
| 2002 | Lynne Dragomier | Vice President The Hoover Company |
| 2002 | Thomas Welsh | Vice President First Energy Corp. |
| 2002 | Mark Nylander | Vice President Liggett-Stashower Public Relations |
| 2002 | Cynthia Vrsansky Schulz | Senior Managing Director Dix and Eaton |
| 2002 | King Hill | President Digiknow Inc. |
| 2003 | Hal McCoy | Sports Writer Dayton Daily News |
| 2004 | Jim Nash | Managing Partner Marcus Thomas Associates |
| 2005 | Connie Schultz | Columnist Plain Dealer |
| 2006 | Brooke Spectorsky | President and General Manager WKYC-TV |
| 2007 | Richard Ramhoff | President and Publisher Lansing State Journal |
| 2008 | Bob Circosta | President Bob Circosta Communication Inc. |
| 2009 | Earl Jones Jr. | Founder Chairman and CEO of Jones Broadcast Group LLC. |
| 2010 | Tom Jordan | Hoffman York |
| 2011 | Stephanie Danes Smith | Central Intelligence Agency (Retired) |
| 2012 | Elizabeth Z. Bartz | President and CEO, State and Federal Communications, Inc |
| 2013 | Sam Roe | The Chicago Tribune |
| 2014 | Wayne Dawson | Co Anchor Fox 8 News in the Morning |
| 2015 | Christine Plonsky | Director of Women's Athletics, University of Texas |
| 2016 | Diane Laney-Fitzpatrick | Author |
| 2017 | Laura Gordon | General Manager, Edelman |
| 2018 | Kristen DelGuzzi | Managing Editor, Politics, Government and World, USA TODAY |
| 2019 | Carolyn Robinson | Region Director, Solutions Journalism Network |
| 2019 | Tom Jennings | Executive Producer, 1895 Films |
Fast-Track Award
The Fast-Track Award recognizes a recent alumnus/alumna who has been a significant early achiever in his/her field. Since its inception in 2009, the following alumni have earned this honor:
| YEAR | NAME | TITLE/COMPANY |
| 2009 | Lauren Harper | Crispin Porter & Bogusky |
| 2010 | Elaine Murphy | McKesson Corporation |
| 2010 | Brian Handler | Blue Sky Studios/Fox |
| 2011 | Andy Alt | GuitarTV.com |
| 2011 | Kirk Yuhnke | News Achor, ABC15, Phoenix |
| 2012 | Mandy Jenkins | Digital First Media |
| 2012 | Haraz N.Ghanbari | University of Toledo |
| 2013 | Shannon Lanier | Arise Entertainment 360 |
| 2013 | Jenn Yokley | The Cleveland Cavaliers/Quicken Loans Arena |
| 2014 | Kyle Michael Miller | TODAY.com |
| 2014 | Christina Stowers | U.S. Department of Energy |
| 2015 | David Lawson | Miner & Co. Studio |
| 2015 | Danielle Wiggins | WKYC-TV |
| 2016 | Natalie Pasquarella | NBC 4 New York |
| 2016 | Tyler Pina | The Verge |
| 2017 | Brianne Kimmel | Zendesk |
| 2018 | Brooke DiDonato | Freelance Photographer |
| 2018 | Phylicia McCorkle | Manager of Diversity and Inclusion, MLB |
| 2019 | Isaac Versaw | Senior Creative, RYOT Studios (NYC) |
| 2019 | Jinae West | National Geographic, Washington D.C. |
Sharon Marquis Friend of JMC Award
| YEAR | NAME |
| 2010 | Rita Andolson |
| 2011 | Steve Savanyu |
| 2012 | Gary Harwood |
| 2013 | Chris Hallahan, Jen Kramer |
| 2014 | Marianne Warzinski |
| 2015 | Gary Harwood |
| 2016 | Gary and LuEtt Hanson |
| 2017 | Edwige Winans |
| 2019 | Ryan Dunn |
| 2019 | David Hrvatin |
The Sharon Marquis Friend of JMC Award is presented to an individual who has demonstrated remarkable support to our mission and its students.