Athens, Ga. – The University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication has announced the recipients of its annual alumni awards.
Millard Grimes (ABJ ’51), Jennifer Sloan (ABJ ’86), Jon Gallo (ABJ ’99), and Jack Lule (PhD ’87) have been named 2007 Distinguished Alumni Award Winners and will be honored along with outstanding students in a special “Pride of Grady” ceremony on Thursday, May 10, at 4 p.m. at UGA’s Georgia Center for Continuing Education Conference Center and Hotel.
Grimes will be honored with the John Holliman Jr. Award for Lifetime Achievement, while Sloan will receive the Henry W. Grady Award for Mid-Career Achievement. Gallo will collect the Dean John E. Drewry Young Alumnus Award and Jack Lule will receive the college’s Distinguished Alumni Scholar Award.
“These exceptional individuals demonstrate how Grady alumni carry the banner of achievement in journalism and mass communication forward into their professions,” said E. Culpepper Clark, dean of the Grady College. “They and the alumni they represent are extremely valuable resources to the college. Their character, careers and service to the field teach and inspire.”
Holliman award winner Grimes, 77, is president of Grimes Publications, which has owned and operated 35 newspapers and three magazines in Georgia and Alabama over the last 40 years. Headquartered in Athens, Grimes Publications now consists of six weekly newspapers in middle Georgia.
Described by a colleague as “the renaissance man of Georgia journalism,” Grimes has logged 61 years as a working journalist. From copy and proofreading desks at the Columbus Ledger in 1946 to president of the Georgia Press Association during its 1986 centennial year to publisher of the acclaimed business and political magazine, Georgia Trend in the 1990’s, Grimes’ career is notable for its longevity and diversity. He has been a reporter, copy desk editor, editorial writer, columnist, editor and publisher, corporate president and CEO. Grimes is also an historian, author of The Last Linotype, a history of Georgia newspapers since World War II.
Henry W. Grady mid-career honoree Sloan, 43, serves as consul and Head of Political/Economic Relations and Public Affairs at the Consulate General of Canada in New York City. She also chairs the Grady Society Alumni Board and serves on the college’s advisory board. She served as president of the Grady College Alumni Association from 1998-2000.
Raised in Sudbury, Ontario, Sloan has served in key roles in Canadian government and politics since joining the Public Service of Canada in 1989 where she has held a number of positions including spokesperson at the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade and chief of consultations and media relations at the Department of Finance. Prior to her current post in Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs, Sloan served as chief of staff to the Canadian Minister of International Cooperation where she used her extensive experience in government and politics to manage a political staff of 23 people. Between 1998-2003, Sloan served as director of communications to Deputy Prime Minister John Manley providing strategic communications counsel and directing the planning and development of comprehensive, global public affairs programs.
Drewry award winner Gallo, 31, is a staff writer for The Washington Post, where he has written about sports for seven years. Beginning his career as a freelance sportswriter after graduation from Grady, Gallo was promoted to a two-year internship at the Post in 2000, and promoted to staff writer at the conclusion of the internship.
Among the newspaper’s most published writers, Gallo has covered college and professional sport teams, including the Washington Redskins, Baltimore Orioles, Washington Wizards, Washington Mystics, the U.S. Naval Academy, Virginia Tech Hokies, Maryland Terrapins and Virginia Cavaliers. While a student, Gallo served as sports editor of The Red & Black and logged internships at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Dallas Morning News.
Distinguished alumni scholar Lule, 52, is the Joseph B. McFadden Distinguished Professor of Journalism and director of the globalization and social change initiative at Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Penn. Lule is the author of Daily News, Eternal Stories: The Mythological Role of Journalism, published in 2001 by Guilford Press. Clifford G. Christians, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, called his book “a landmark book in the sociology of news.” The book argues that ancient myths can be found daily in the pages of the news. The book won the 2002 Lewis Mumford Award for Outstanding Scholarship.
Lule is also the author of more than 40 scholarly articles and book chapters. His work has appeared in Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, Critical Studies in Media Communication, American Journalism, Journal of Communication Inquiry, Journal of Mass Media Ethics and other publications. A former reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer and a contributor to numerous newspapers and periodicals, Lule has published work in the Atlanta Constitution, Baltimore Sun, Charlotte Observer, Chicago Tribune, Chronicle of Higher Education, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Morning Call, Philadelphia Inquirer and other publications. He also has offered commentary about the news on National Public Radio and other media outlets.
Grady College alumni awards demonstrate recognition of distinguished achievement by professional peers in journalism and mass communication. The Holliman award is given in honor of the late Grady alumnus John Holliman for exceptional, sustained contributions to the profession throughout a career. Named for the college’s namesake, the Henry W. Grady Award honors an influential mid-career graduate. The John E. Drewry Award honors a graduate of the last decade who has seen exciting and productive career developments. The Distinguished Alumni Scholar Award honors a Grady graduate demonstrating excellent and sustained contributions to scholarship in journalism and mass communication education.
Established in 1915, the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication offers seven undergraduate majors including advertising, broadcast news, magazines, newspapers, public relations, publication management and telecommunication arts. The college offers two graduate degrees, and is home to the Knight Chair in Health and Medical Journalism and the Peabody Awards, internationally recognized as one of the most prestigious prizes for excellence in electronic media. For more information, visit www.grady.uga.edu.
