Five CCI alumni were presented with school/program awards and six CCI faculty members received faculty awards at the Nov. 6, 2015 CCI Awards and Scholarship Donor Appreciation Banquet.

CCI School/Program Alumni Award Recipients  

• Advertising Alumnus of the Year: Adam Brown (BS/ADV ’94), executive strategist, Salesforce.

• Communication Studies Alumna of the Year: Elizabeth Clement Webb (BA/CS ’03), special assistant to the deputy director, Federal Bureau of Investigation.

• Information Sciences Alumna of the Year: Danuta Nitecki (MS/C&I ’76), dean of libraries and professor of computing and informatics, Drexel University.

• Journalism and Electronic Media Alumna of the Year: Tori Blase (BS/JEM ’93), supervisor and executive producer, CNN.

• Public Relations Alumna of the Year: Ellen Liston (BS/PR ’84), publicist, the Dollywood Company.

“We are proud to honor Adam, Elizabeth, Danuta, Tori and Ellen,” said CCI Dean Mike Wirth. “These awards recognize their outstanding professional achievement along with their willingness to give back to their alma mater in a variety of important ways.”  

CCI Faculty Award Recipients

Faculty Teaching Award

Robyn Blakeman, ADPR associate professor

Faculty Research Award

Amber Roessner, JEM assistant professor

Faculty Service/Outreach Award

Rob Heller, JEM professor

Lecturer Teaching

Pete Finch, JEM lecturer

Innovative Teaching Award

Kimberly Douglass, SIS assistant professor

Bud Minkel International/Intercultural Award

Sam Swan, JEM professor

“Congratulations to Robyn, Amber, Rob, Pete, Kimberly and Sam on their excellent work, which earned them this special recognition,” remarked CCI Dean Mike Wirth. “Their achievements are representative of the great things being done by our entire faculty.”