Dr. Elisia Cohen, COM

Dr. Thomas Lindlof, JAT

Phil Osborne is a long-time public relations executive and former broadcast journalist.  He is a native of Carter County, but spent most of his formative years in nearby Clark County. He went on to pursue his higher education degree at the University of Kentucky and at Eastern Kentucky University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in radio/television broadcasting. He spent seven years in broadcasting at WRSL in Stanford, and WLAP and WLEX-TV in Lexington before joining The Preston Group in 1985.  Ten years later, he was promoted to president of the Lexington-based marketing communications and research company, which started doing business as Preston-Osborne. It was also in 1995 that Osborne was named as the Outstanding Alumnus of the EKU Applied Arts and Technology College.  In 1997, Osborne bought the firm from its founder, Tom Preston. His company is one of the leading marketing communications and research agencies in Kentucky.  Osborne also taught part-time in UK’s College of Communications and Information Studies for six years. In addition, his firm offers a competitive internship program that has employed a number of students from the School’s Integrated Strategic Communications program. Osborne also serves as a member of the School of Journalism and Telecommunications Advisory Board, has been a supporter of the James C. Bowling lecture series and has supported the Excellence in Public Relations awards, including the inaugural event that honored his long-time mentor, Tom Preston.   Osborne is married to the former Jennifer Staton Arbegust of Lexington. Together, they have four children. His nominator staid, “Phil’s company regularly employs interns from UK’s ISC program, and our students always have a very positive experience in that placement.  As a member of the School’s Advisory Board, he has been a particularly staunch supporter of the annual Bids for Brains Scholarship Fundraiser.  Phil Osborne is one of the leading practitioners in the state and he is a very important voice on the advisory board and an important resource for our students.

Carl West was educated in the public schools of Campbell County, Kentucky. He graduated from University of Kentucky School of Journalism in 1966. He started his newspaper career with The Kentucky Post as a general assignment reporter in 1966. Carl moved to the Frankfort bureau of the Post in 1969.  He went to Washington, D.C. in 1971 as a regional correspondent in the Scripps-Howard News bureau in 1971, representing the Post in Covington and The Evansville (Ind.) Press. He moved to the Scripps-Howard national desk in 1973 as part of a two-member investigative team.  Coverage included Watergate, and the fraud and abuse in Medicaid and Medicare. He was a co-winner of the Raymond Clapper Memorial Award for Washington reporting for stories on congressional junkets.  In 1978, he was assigned to cover the Pentagon. He returned to Frankfort in 1979 as editor of The State Journal. He is the founder of the Kentucky Book Fair which is now in its 26th year. In 2003 he was inducted into the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame.  Carl has helped the School of Journalism and Telecommunications by partnering with us in an on-going senior-level JOU course, “Covering the Capitol.”  This course is offered in the spring semester to coincide with the Kentucky State Legislature’s session.  Students meet weekly in the State Journal’s offices in Frankfort and report on and write stories related to state government issues.  The class has been offered three times so far.  The partnership has resulted in numerous publications for JAT students, most of them on the front page of The State Journal.  Carl also helps mentor the students.  This has been a great experience that the School plans to continue to offer in the future.  Carl has also partnered with the school twice to host the print journalists in the Edward R. Murrow Journalism Fellows group.  The group spends several hours at The State Journal, meeting with Mr. West and other State Journal staff members and touring the facility.  Mr. West also participated in JAT’s spring 2007 Richard G. Wilson Journalism Alumni Symposium, discussing his experiences as a Washington-based reporter during Watergate.

Patricia Hunter Shannon currently lives in Purchase, N.Y. with her husband Scott. Shannon, who earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism from UK in 1978, is Vice President of Penguardia Productions, a wholly owned corporation for creation and production of radio and television programming. She currently serves as a member of the School of Journalism and Telecommunications Alumni Advisory Board, and previously worked at WVLK Radio and for Hyatt Hotels Corporation as the Public Relations Director and National Sales Manager for their properties in Lexington, Ky., Sarasota and Tampa, Fl., and Grand Hyatt, NY. Shannon is very involved in her community. She is a member of the Rye Resurrection Church, the Junior League of Westchester on the Sound, Vice President of the Parents Association for the Covenant of Sacred Heart, member of the Blythedale Children’s Hospital Capital Campaign and is active in fund raising for the Carver Center and St. Vincent’s of Westchester. Her nominator states, “Trish has taken a very active role in the School of Journalism and Telecommunications over the years, helping with renovations to the Maggie Room and with the addition of two large display plaques that list all of the members of the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame. The University of Kentucky Journalism Alumni Association, of which Trish is a member, established the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame in 1980. The first recipients were inducted on April 13, 1981. New members are inducted each year and are included on the plaques that we proudly display in the Maggie Room located on the first floor of the Grehan Building. The purpose of the Hall of Fame is to recognize Kentuckians who have made significant contributions to the profession of journalism. Selection of the Hall of Fame members is made from individuals, living or dead, who are natives of Kentucky, or who have spent a significant portion of their careers in Kentucky. With Trish’s leadership, the framed display boards and plaques listing all of the Hall of Fame members were placed in the room in 2004. Trish has also assisted the School by using her contacts in broadcasting in New York City to help identify prospective speakers for the annual Joe Creason Lecture.”

Dr. Gifford Blyton was born in 1908. He spent his early childhood growing up on a soft fruit ranch in Wawawai, Washington and playing with Nez Perce Indian children. Blyton’s first eight years of school were spent in a one-room schoolhouse. He graduated from Lewiston High School in Lewiston, Idaho, in 1927. Blyton spent one year at LSU before moving to Columbus, Ohio, to continue work on his PhD at Ohio State University. While in Baton Rouge, he met Marion Geren and they married in 1938. Three years later he received his PhD, which led to him accepting his second teaching position at Western Michigan University. His first teaching assignment was at Ohio University where he taught basic courses in speech and directed a speech clinic. He came to UK in 1948 to teach speech and communications. He taught at UK from 1948 to 1975 and coached the UK debate team for 21 years. He has also served as parliamentarian for the University Senate for the last 29 years. The College is very proud to have an endowed professorship named in honor of Dr. Blyton. The professorship, established in 2002, honors his legacy of contributions as a teacher and a scholar. The effort to raise money for the professorship was spearheaded by his former debate student, Stan Craig. The first holder of the Gifford S. Blyton Endowed Professorship is Dr. Enid Waldhart. Dr. Waldhart recently retired from the University.  The second holder of the Professorship is Dr. Deanna Sellnow. 

Nell Blair Vaughn, '50 Journalism graduate. Nell was a summer Kernel Editor at UK and worked for the Lexington Leader in 1972. Nell has been very involved with the College. She regularly attends all JAT events as well as the annual college awards dinner. Nell has helped the staff compile information for the 50th Anniversary of the Grehan Building and provided photos and information for displays during the event.

David L. Weller, currently lives in Frankfort and is a 1974 UK graduate. He has been regional director of corporate and external affairs for BellSouth since 1991. He serves as a part-time instructor in the UK School of Journalism and Telecommunications and serves on the college's board of advisors.

Richard G. "Dick" Wilson, he was a Courier-Journal reporter and bureau chief for nearly 34 years and was the recipient of several awards for his coverage of higher education. He was inducted into the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame in 1999. He is a 1966 graduate of UK with a degree in Journalism. He was a Kernel editor, a faculty advisor, is a long-time member of the JAT Alumni Executive Committee and in 2002-2003 served as the Acting Director of the UK School of Journalism and Telecommunications. He has been a faithful and strong supporter of the College and rarely misses events and has played a major role in organizing many others.

Rosemary Westley, widow of Bruce Westley, former professor and director of the School of Journalism. She has worked closely with the college and its graduate program in establishing the Bruce Westley Memorial Graduate Scholarship in communications, awarded each year.

Dr. Philip Palmgreen received his MA in Communication in 1969.  Phil is widely known for his work on media campaigns and prevention of risky behavior.   His productivity in terms of publications and funded research is exceptional.  He has been funded as a principal or co-principal investigator continuously since 1987, bringing more than $12 million in extramural funding to the University of Kentucky.  He also served for four years as a primary scientific advisor for the Office of National Drug Control Policy’s $2 billion National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign. He has authored over 60 research articles and book chapters, edited two books, and presented over 60 scholarly papers. He is the winner of the Gerald M. Phillips Award for Distinguished Applied Communication Scholarship (National Communication Association—2005) and the Prevention Science Award “for outstanding contributions to advancing the field of prevention science” (Society for Prevention Research—2007).  Dr. Palmgreen’s work is unique in that it not only consists of traditional scholarship in terms of laboratory and field-based research, but involves the development and production of original public service announcements for television and radio.  His PSA (Michael) won “Best in Show” award for all televised PSA or product ads in the 1997 Lexington Advertising Club ADDY awards competition.  Perhaps most important, his work on prevention message design has changed lives.  In a recent study, Kentucky and Tennessee adolescents in target areas who viewed substance abuse prevention messages reported decreases in marijuana use.  Dr. Palmgreen now is expanding his message design work into the area of risky sexual behavior, designing prevention campaigns to encourage condom use among young adults.  In addition to his research work, Phil is an exceptional teacher and one of the most sought-after faculty members to serve on graduate committees.  Since joining the faculty in 1975, he has continually served as a member of one or more departmental committees, continues to serve on college committees and also has a distinguished service career at the University level.  He also has an excellent service record in professional and public service.   His expertise has also made him a highly sought-after advisor at the national level.  His nominator said, “Phil has played a huge role in supporting and promoting the research, teaching and service missions of the College and the Department of Communication.  He is a dedicated and distinguished faculty member.  He has shaped the lives of hundreds of undergraduate and graduate students.  And above all else, Dr. Palmgreen is a fine person. He is congenial, helpful, generous, encouraging, patient, and positive.  We have the highest respect for him as a scholar, researcher and colleague.

Andrew Oppmann's 23-year journalism career has taken him to roles as a reporter, editor or executive for 10 newspapers in seven states.  He is a native of Hopkinsville, Ky., and is the president and publisher of The Leaf-Chronicle in Clarksville, Tenn., and The Daily News Journal in Murfreesboro, Tenn. Both daily newspapers are owned by the Gannett Co.   Andrew graduated from UK in 1985 with a B.A. in Journalism. He was editor-in-chief of the Kentucky Kernel in 1983-84, and was named the outstanding graduating senior of the College of Communications. He was also president of UK's Society of Professional Journalists (Sigma Delta Chi) and lobbied to expand the state's Open Records Law to apply to student government, an effort recognized by the inaugural Robert G. Zumwinkle Student Rights Award in 1985.He began his professional career in 1985 as a reporter for The Orange County Register in Santa Ana, Calif. He later worked as a reporter at the Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader and The Knoxville (Tenn.) News-Sentinel. In 1988, he rejoined the Herald-Leader as a bureau chief and assistant metro editor. He was hired by The Houston (Texas) Post in 1991, serving as deputy metro editor, then metro editor, and helped lead its coverage of the 1992 Republican National Convention and NASA’s Johnson Space Center.

Dr. Lee B. Becker has had an outstanding career.  Dr. Becker received his B.A. degree in journalism from UK in 1969 and his M.A. degree in Communication from UK in 1971.  After graduating from UK, he worked as a journalist in this region and in Kansas before returning to school to earn a doctorate in Mass Communications from the University of Wisconsin.  He has been a faculty member at the University of Georgia since 1997 and has been recognized for outstanding graduate teaching there.  As part of his responsibilities in Georgia’s James M. Cox Jr. Center, he conducts the Annual Surveys of Journalism & Mass Communication, essential tools for JMC administrators because the data provide salary benchmarks for faculty and placement information for JMC graduates.  Dr. Becker is a prolific researcher and has received recognition including the Krieghbaum under 40 Award from AEJMC and the Harold L. Nelson Award from UW-Madison.  He is a MAPOR Fellow and has been a Fulbright Research Scholar twice.  He is one of the best-known scholars in journalism and mass communication.  Dr. Becker’s career success speaks directly to the mission of the College, the graduate program, and the School of Journalism and Telecommunications.  Dr. Becker is an excellent example of how a professional undergraduate degree and a research-based master’s degree can combine to give a student appropriate grounding for a research career.  Dr. Becker is an outstanding role model for both our undergraduate and graduate students, and eminently worthy of recognition as an outstanding alumnus.

Everett J. “EJ” Mitchell II  is a 1985 UK journalism graduate. He was recently named Executive Editor of the Courier Post in Cherry Hill, NJ.  Prior to this appointment, he was the vice president/news and editor of The Tennessean in Nashville.   He is the first African-American to serve as editor of The Tennessean.   EJ started his career in 1985 as a reporter with The Evening Sun in Baltimore. He joined The Courier-Journal at Louisville in 1986 as a general assignment reporter and courts reporter. He moved to The Detroit News as a reporter covering the Detroit Police Department in 1989.   While there he worked with a team of reporters covering both Nelson Mandela’s tour and corruption in the Detroit Police Department, which resulted in the police chief being sentenced to federal prison. He was named assistant city editor at The News in 1991 and day city editor in 1992.  As an editor he coined the term “carjacking.”  He joined The Cincinnati Enquirer as assistant managing editor/local news in 1993. He was named managing editor of The News Journal at Wilmington in 1997.  Mitchell moved to executive editor of the Statesman Journal in Salem in 1999.
He returned to The Detroit News in 2000 where he served as managing editor and oversaw a 280-person newsroom.   While there the paper was twice named Gannett’s top newspaper and was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for public service.
In 2002-2003, he served as a Pulitzer Prize juror.  He was on the APME board of directors for six years, and he chaired the APME Freedom of Information Committee from 1999-2000.  He serves as a member of the School of Journalism and Telecommunications’ professional Advisory Board and has helped the School tremendously in the revitalization of the Dow Jones summer workshop for minority high school students, suggesting curriculum ideas, recommending a newspaper sponsorship approach that worked very well in getting additional financial support from are papers, and volunteering his time to help with the workshop.

Berger is a member of PRSA, the International Communication Association, the National Communication Association, and the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. He serves as a member of the editorial review boards of the Journal of Public Relations Research and the Atlantic Journal of Communication. His nominator described him as “a strong supporter of and contributor to the Graduate Program in Communication. He has assisted the program in recruiting students and has been a role model with his strong academic and professional achievements."

Judy (’67) and Gene Clabes (’69) left the University of Kentucky with two important shared commitments - to journalism and to the personal partnership they made when they married as juniors. Both grew up in Henderson, Kentucky. Gene and Judy both graduated from Henderson County High School in 1963. Gene attended Henderson Community College for two years during which he became sports editor and interim city editor of the Henderson Gleaner. He then came to the University of Kentucky where he joined The Kentucky Kernel staff and was managing editor his senior year. Judy came to UK as a freshman, joined The Kernel staff and served as summer editor and associate editor. In the late '80s Gene became publisher and editor of the Recorder Newspapers, heading up a group that purchased the weeklies. Under his leadership, circulation grew dramatically, special editions were created for specific communities, and they won numerous awards for excellence. He served on the board and as president of the Kentucky Press Association and is currently on the board of the Kentucky 4-H Association. Judy became president and CEO of the Scripps Howard Foundation in 1996. Under her leadership, the Foundation distributed over $5 million in journalism and general charitable funding around the country. Her stewardship includes the founding of the Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications at Hampton University, a historically black institution in Virginia, increased funding for journalism scholarships and internships. When the Recorder Newspapers were sold in the late 1990's, Gene Clabes devoted his time to building the family horse farm in Bracken County, Ky. He took a special assignment as Freedom Forum Visiting Professional for four semesters at Hampton University. Currently, he is equine director for the Kentucky Equine Education Project, a statewide horse advocacy group, where he combines his love of horses with his skills as a journalist and communicator. Both have remained very involved in the School of Journalism and Telecommunications as volunteers and as participants in numerous School programs and activities.

Jody Carbiener Dreyer, '83 Journalism graduate. Jody is the senior vice president, corporate public service for The Walt Disney Company. She oversees Disney's employee VoluntEARS initiatives worldwide, the company's corporate relations function, and the Disney Learning Partnership, which includes Disney's American Teacher Award. Jody has worked for the organization in some capacity for over 20 years, beginning with summer work at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. She began working at Disney while as an intern while she was a student at the University of Kentucky.

Dr. Rona J. Roberts, a Monticello native who earned a master's and doctorate in communication before starting her own research and Web site firm. Her firm, Roberts & Kay is located in Lexington and offers qualitative research facilitators and Web site design services.

Kathryn R. Costello was the senior vice president for external affairs at the University of Georgia and currently has her own consulting business. She holds both her bachelor's (1963) and master's degree (1974) from our College.

John R. "Jack" Guthrie, a 1963 graduate of UK with a degree in Journalism, is chairperson and CEO of Guthrie/Mayes Public Relations, past president of the UK School of Journalism Alumni Association and former member of the UK Board of Trustees. He has also been very involved in the Joe Creason Lecture Series, the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame and the James C. Bowling Executive-in-Residence Lecture Series.