• PROGRAMS

  • Advertising (BS, MS)
  • Communications & Media (PhD)
  • Institute of Communications Research
  • Journalism (BS, MS)
  • Media & Cinema Studies (BS)

Alumni accomplishments

NPR affiliate gains journalism alumna

Kavitha Cardoza MS '02 JOURN has joined NPR affiliate WAMU Radio in Washington, D.C., as a senior reporter. Previously she was a reporter at WUIS Radio at the University of Illinois at Springfield, and prior to that she worked at WILL Radio.
Listen to the WILL series Cardoza produced on issues related to minorities and health care ...
Read more about her move to WAMU ...

New graduate begins TV career at Arkansas station

In late June, Angelica Duria-Delarmente '08 JOURN will join KHOG, the ABC affiliate in the Fayetteville-Fort Smith, Ark., TV market, the 102nd market in the country in size.

Alumni awarded book prizes

Beth Finke '81 JOURN, author of the book, "Hanni and Beth: Safe and Sound," recently received an ASPCA Henry Bergh Children's Book Award. Based on publisher nominations and presented each year by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the awards are named for the founder of the ASPCA. Henry Bergh was born in 1813, chartered the organization in 1866, and also spent time working to prevent child abuse. Finke is the 2007 winner in the Nonfiction Companion Animals category.

Michael Loyd Gray '84 JOURN received the 2008 Sol Books Prose Series Prize for his appropriately titled novel, "Well Deserved."
Read the note from the Sol Books judges ...
Read more about Gray and his work ...

Advertising alumna earns promotion in health science publishing firm

Jean Sims Fornango '80 ADV was recently promoted to managing editor at Elsevier Health Science in St. Louis, where she is responsible for all the nursing skills titles. Previously she was a senior developmental editor focused on product development She has worked in educational publishing for almost 20 years, first with Times-Mirror, then with McGraw-Hill Higher Education and now with Reed Elsevier. She started out in sales, then moved to marketing and finally settled into editorial work about 14 years ago. In 2007, she was named the Elsevier Developmental Professional of the Year for the nursing editorial group.

On his way to the Paralympic Games, alumnus is hitting his stride

Josh George '07 JOURN has been steadily attracting attention, powering through first-place finishes and world records as a world-class wheelchair athlete. Now he's preparing for Beijing and the Paralympics, which will be held Sept. 6-17. In a recent New York Times article featuring George, others involved in the sport of wheelchair racing — including some of his competitors — sing his praises.
Read the New York Times article about George ...

Alumnus, marketing executive, professor, author delivers speech on lost art of customer service

Howard Gordon '53 JOURN recently appeared as a featured presenter at the Kellogg School Leadership Conference at Northwestern University. Speaking in Spring 2008 before an audience of senior corporate executives, Kellogg alumni and MBA students on "Is the Customer Really King/Queen?," Howard pointed out the substantive opportunities for corporate leaders to restore customer trust in the U.S. marketplace. Howard is principal of GRFI Ltd., a Chicago-based firm that interprets buying-decision behavior and motivation in the corner offices of Corporate America; co-editor of "The Marketing Manager's Handbook, 3rd edition;" and a former professor of advertising in the Medill School Graduate Program in Advertising at Northwestern.

Two new CNN projects generated by journalism alumna

Jennifer Grubb '91 JOURN is working on two new series, "Travel Tips" and "Road Warriors" for CNN Special Projects, writing scripts, taping reads and more. The finished "Travel Tips" series runs every weekend on "Headline News" and online. For "Road Warriors," Grubb said she came up with the production concept, which includes "using a second camera, incorporating still photos, using music ... Plus, I've gotten to travel and meet some really cool, and sometimes famous, people."
See Grubb's travel stories ...

Tribune intern wins Sun-Times contest

Recent journalism graduate Katie Hamilton '08 JOURN interned at the Chicago Tribune during the Spring 2008 semester. While there, she starred in a winning video aimed at beating the Chicago Sun-Times at their own game of making fun. In February, the Sun-Times sponsored the "Zell No!" contest, calling for candidates to write a song and make a video about Tribune/Cubs owner Sam Zell's idea to sell the naming rights to Wrigley Field. Produced with the assistance of Tribune colleagues, Hamilton's winning effort earned a $1,000 prize, which the group planned to donate to charity.
See Hamilton in the winning video ...
Read Tribune columnist John Kass' related comments ...

Columbia faculty gains journalism alumnus

Paul Ingrassia '72 JOURN is an adjunct member of the faculty of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. At the end of last year, Ingrassia retired from The Wall Street Journal. Prior to that he served as president of Dow Jones Newswires and vice president of news strategy for Dow Jones.

Journalism alumna handles media at United Nations

Paulina Kubiak '99 JOURN, AB '99 LAS, became the information officer for the United Nations Media Accreditation and Liaison Unit in Fall 2007. Previously she wrote and produced for CNN's "American Morning" for three years and worked as the communications officer for the United National Development Programme's Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor, a gathering of former heads of state, including Madeleine Albright, Hernando de Soto and Shirin Ebadi. Recently Kubiak helped Lynn Holley, academic programs coordinator for the UI Department of Journalism, organize a trip to the United Nations for journalism students who traveled to New York in Spring 2008.

Alumnus moves from blog to New York magazine

Will Leitch '98 JOURN has announced he will leave his position as editor of Deadspin.com at the end of June, though he plans to continue to contribute to the blog, which he started in 2005. Leitch is joining the staff of New York magazine, for which he has written previously. In April, Leitch was a guest of sports broadcaster Bob Costas on HBO's program, "Costas NOW," during which he responded to Costas' comments about "idiots" who frequent sports blogs. Leitch also has written for The New York Times and GQ, and he is the author of three books.

Marriott hires advertising graduate

Josh Levine MS '05 ADV recently became a marketing project manager in Marriott Corporation's dot-com division. He is responsible for managing teams of creatives, copywriters, user experience leads and developers to create the Flash pieces for promotions seen on www.marriott.com. Levine wrote this of his new job, "The things I learned during my time in school have already helped me in this role, and there is no doubt that the education I received at the U of I made a difference in their hiring decision."

Alumnus 'retires;' now writes columns, volunteers

David S. Morris '72 RADIO & TV has retired from the television advertising sales business after a 30-year career, most recently with CBS in Baltimore. Morris now lives in Florida, where he writes a twice-weekly consumer advocate column for the Sun-Herald newspaper group entitled, "In Your Corner." He also writes a weekly entertainment television column for the Naples Daily News entitled, "Mr TV." In addition, he serves on the board of directors of a non-profit adult continuing education organization in charge of marketing and public relations.
Read "Mr. TV" at The Naples Daily News ...
(Click on "Entertainment" button and then scroll down to see Mr. TV columns in a list at left.)

Marquette selects three-time UI alumnus as new provost

John Pauly '72 JOURN, MS '74 JOURN, PHD '79 COM, will become provost of Marquette University, Milwaukee, in late July. Pauly has been dean of Marquette's College of Communication since 2006. He first become interested in teaching while a graduate student, and prior to joining Marquette's faculty, he taught at East Carolina University in Greenville, S.C.; the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee; the University of Tulsa; and St. Louis University.

Radio personality back on the air

Alex Quigley '01 JOURN has moved back to Q101 as weekend host. Previously he was the interactive program manager for media conglomerate Emmis Communications at that company's stations, WKQX-FM and WLUP-FM. Before that, he started a new rock station in Bakersfield, Calif. With humility and a big dose of humor, Quigley calls himself "the Summer Olympics of Q101," because he was hired there in 2000, 2004 and again in 2008.

Viral marketing firm hires alumnus away from radio

Kurt Vanderah '92 JOURN is the new vice president of events at GasPedal, a strategic marketing firm in Chicago. For the past 12 years, Vanderah had been WGN-AM Radio's assistant program director.

‘The Wisch List’ is back

Dave Wischnowsky '98 JOURN recently revived his Wisch List blog, which he started when he was a reporter for the Daily Times in Ottawa, Ill. He continued with the blog for the Chicago Tribune from July 2005 through July 2007. Now he works for a Chicago public relations firm, and in May he was on E! Network's episode of "THS Investigates: Dating Nightmares" (as a reporter who covered a dating con man —
See The Wisch List ...

Alumna makes PR move

Earlier this year, Lisa Xia '07 JOURN recently began working for Edelman in Chicago, specializing in the tourism and lifestyle practice. The company is an international public relations firm co-headquartered in Chicago and New York. Xia briefly had been with Jasculca/Terman and Associates, a strategic communications firm also located in Chicago.