March 18, 2009 – The Department of Communication’s 54th annual awards banquet will be held Wednesday, April 1, 2009 at the Little America Hotel. A reception to honor alumni and student award recipients will be held from 6 to 6:30 p.m. in the Ballroom Foyer, with the banquet served at 6:30 p.m. in the Main Ballroom.

The event will feature three Department of Communication alumns receiving the Quintus C. Wilson Alumni Achievement Award: Kevin Bischoff, vice president of business and community relations for BlueCross BlueShield of Utah; Reece Stein, former outdoor sports reporter for KUTV Channel 2; and Nadine Wimmer, news anchor for KSL Channel 5.

The 2009 Service to Journalism Award will be presented to Paul Rolly, columnist for The Salt Lake Tribune. The Distinguished Service Award, a special acknowledgment for a lifetime of major contributions to Utah and the Intermountain West, will be presented to Pamela Atkinson, community advocate.

“We are thrilled to have the honor of recognizing these exceptional alumni from our department,” said Ann Darling, chair of the Department of Communication. “They were exceptional students who have become outstanding professionals in the field of communication and generous members of our community. Knowing and working alongside people like these is a great privilege.”

In addition to honoring selected alumni, the banquet will pay tribute to students who have won awards, internships and scholarships from the community and the university. The awards banquet will also serve as the setting for the induction of new members into Kappa Tau Alpha, the national honorary communication society.

The 54th annual banquet also serves as a tribute to the Department of Communication’s journey from its humble beginnings in 1892 as the Department of Elocution to its place as a national leader in speech communication and journalism and mass communication today. For many years, the department remained the only program in the Intermountain West accredited by the Association for Journalism & Mass Communication. It has since achieved stature as one of the top graduate programs in the nation and has received continuous recognition in national journalistic competitions. Its state-of-the-art facility was selected as the former site of the National Debate Tournament.

The public is welcome to join the celebration. Tickets cost $45 for professionals and $40 for students. RSVP to Rebecca Yost at 581-5825 or www.communication.utah.edu by Friday, Mar. 27, 2009 to join in this historic event.