Communicators’ accomplishments, leadership honored at annual banquet

The achievements of five communications professionals will be marked at the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communications annual banquet on Friday, April 13.

Three UW–Madison graduates will receive the school's Distinguished Service Award for professional contributions to journalism and mass communication. They are:

• Herman Baumann, principal and founder of Green Line Strategies, a Palatine, Ill. firm that helps businesses with corporate sponsorships, business development and business strategy. A 1975 graduate, Baumann has been a leader an innovator in journalism, health care, funding strategies and Internet technology.
• Cliff Behnke, retired senior managing editor of the Wisconsin State Journal in Madison. A 1967 graduate, Behnke covered the university, city hall and the statehouse for the State Journal before serving as city editor, managing editor and senior managing editor before retiring in 2006.
• Robert Miller, chief operating officer of Discover Mediaworks, a television program and production company headquartered in Madison. Miller, who graduated in 1978, formerly worked as vice president and general manager of WKOW-TV in Madison and has also worked in TV news and advertising.

In addition, the Ralph O. Nafziger Award for distinguished achievement by an alumnus within 10 years of graduation will go to Adam Albrecht, creative director of TenUnited, one of the nation's largest independent advertising agencies. He currently manages creative development for brands such as International Delight, Time Warner Cable and Donato's Pizza.

And the Harold L. Nelson Award for distinguished contributions to research in journalism and mass communication will be presented to Donald Shaw, a journalism professor at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

Shaw, who earned his doctorate at UW–Madison in 1966, has been on the North Carolina faculty since his graduation and is a communication historian and theorist. As a scholar, he is best known for his work – along with Max McCombs of the University of Texas – about the agenda-setting function of the press and for his work on 19th and 20th century press history.

The dinner will be held in the Alumni Lounge of the Pyle Center, 702 Langdon St. The reception begins at 6 p.m. with dinner at 7 p.m. Tickets are $25 and may be purchased until Monday, April 2 by contacting Corinne Ahrens, at cmahrens2@wisc.edu, or (608) 262-3691.