Public Affairs ACME Awards 2014

In the short time Nick Vasi has been at the university, he’s accomplished a lot. He shepherded the very successful “Art of Science” exhibit for the IGB, led efforts to memorialize Carl Woese, and launched successful social media activities for the IGB. Nick’s efforts to promote IGB outreach activities have really started to pay off as well, including Genome Day and the very successful Genomics for Judges. His work has raised the visibility of the institute, and by extension, the university. 

This year’s innovation in marketing award goes to The Alma Mater Conservation Team: Jim Lev, Melvyn Skvarla, Christa Deacy-Quinn, Joel Steinfeldt, Jennifer Hain Teper, Dee Dee Caneva, Steve Breitweiser, Anne Lukeman, Brian Stauffer, Todd Hearn and Andy Blacker. 

Judy Mae Bingman is a media communications specialist for Illinois 4-H, leading marketing and communications efforts in all 102 counties in the state. She’s joined the team that represents the campus at the Illinois State Fair, and she’s created compelling, integrated marketing materials for our fair presence – helping ensure that young folks know that 4-H means Extension which means Illinois. 

Rob Kanter has educated people about the environment through a column called “Environmental Almanac” in the News-Gazette that is interesting and engaging. 

Along with managing several social media accounts for the College of Business, Garrett Pauley also plays a primary role in managing the campuswide social media accounts. It’s no exaggeration to say that Garrett is vital to their success. 

This year we had two winners for the Crisis Communications Award: Denise Czuprynski and Steve Wald. Denise and Steve have something in common. When they started their jobs, they stepped into a crisis.