UA College of Communication and Information Sciences Honors Outstanding Alumni

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The superintendent of education for the Tuscaloosa County School Board and the managing director of the Campaign for Alabama are among the six University of Alabama alumni that will be presented with Outstanding Alumni Awards on April 18 from UA’s College of Communication and Information Sciences during Honors Week Activities.

Award winners are Dr. Joyce Sellers, superintendent of education for the Tuscaloosa County School Board; William “Bill” O’Conner, executive director of Campaign for Alabama; Charles Allen, president and CEO of American Exhibition Services in Birmingham; Richard “Rick” Looser, COO of The Cirlot Agency in Jackson, Miss.; David Mattingly, CNN correspondent and environmental reporter, and Steven Shipowitz, CNN vice president and senior executive producer, both from Atlanta.

The annual awards will be presented along with outstanding student awards at C&IS’s Honors Week program at 10 a.m. in Reese Phifer Hall on the UA campus. The C&IS Outstanding Alumni Awards are as follows:

Outstanding Alumnus in Advertising — Birmingham businessman Charles Allen received his bachelor’s in advertising from UA in 1984 and his MBA in 1986. During his undergraduate years, he was a member of the Alabama Forensic Council. He started from humble beginnings in his rise to president and CEO of American Exhibition Services Inc., a company he started in 1988 that, today, is one of the largest exhibition marketing companies in the world, with offices in Birmingham, Las Vegas, Nevada, and soon in Chicago, Ill. The total event marketing that AES espouses helps companies organize, streamline and improve their return on investment for conventions, trade shows and their exhibitors.

AES’ first product was the Exhibitor Preview, which allowed exhibitors to have their sales literature and directions on a revolving kiosk in high traffic areas. A couple of years later, during the Gulf War, Allen noticed that convention attendees would leave the floor to watch CNN in their rooms. That observation led to exclusive marketing rights to the live broadcast of CNN Headline News in convention venues.

Allen serves as co-chairman of the Exhibition Industry Promotional Campaign, which is the global exhibition industry’s $2.5 million effort to promote itself around the world to business leaders as a primary marketing medium. He was the youngest member ever inducted into the Birmingham Business Journal’s “Top 40 Under 40.”

Outstanding Alumnus in Public Relations — Richard W. “Rick” Looser Jr., received his bachelor’s in public relations from UA in 1983. Today he is the COO of The Cirlot Agency in Jackson, Miss., which he co-owns with his wife, Liza. The Cirlot Agency is a full-service marketing, public relations and corporate communications firm that services accounts on a regional, national and international scale, and includes some of the largest publicly traded and privately owned businesses in the nation.

During the past 19 years, the Cirlot Agency has grown to become one of the most successful in the Southeast, handling accounts from Fortune 100 businesses to internationally known corporations. Under Looser’s leadership, the Cirlot Agency led a nation-wide advertising and public relations campaign for the DD(X) Gold Team (Northrop, Grumman, Raytheon and Boeing) that helped land the second largest defense contract in history, worth an estimated $60 billion. The Cirlot Agency is considered by many to be one of the nation’s top three agencies to represent clients in the defense industry.

Looser has been the recipient of the Grand Prammy, an annual award honoring the top public relations professional in Mississippi. During the same year, he was named to the “Top 40 Under 40,” a yearly accolade that recognizes the state of Mississippi’s top 40 business professionals under the age of 40. A member of the board of directors of UA’s Capstone Communication Society, Looser received the 1999 Southern Public Relations Federation Senior Practitioner of the Year for Mississippi, and, in 2002, the Southern Public Relations Federation Lantern Award.

Outstanding Alumna in Communication Studies and The Betsy Plank Distinguished Achievement Award — Tuscaloosa, Alabama’s Dr. Joyce Sellers has received three degrees from UA. She received her bachelor’s in speech/theatre in 1971, her master’s in education in 1973 and her doctorate in instructional leadership in 1989. Today, she serves as the superintendent for the Tuscaloosa County Board of Education, a post she has held since 1994.

One of the most highly acclaimed educators in the state of Alabama, Sellers has led a distinguished career as an educator in Tuscaloosa County. Recently, the State Department of Education gave her “two thumbs up” for scoring nearly perfect on an evaluation that rates her performance as an effective manager and leader.

Since 2001, Sellers has served as adjunct professor in instructional leadership for the College of Education at UA, a course she also taught in 1990. From 1986 to 1990, she served as principal of Holt High School and from 1990-1994 as principal of Hillcrest High School.

Sellers is active in the Tuscaloosa community, serving on numerous boards and committees. She has received many awards, including the Southern Christian Leadership Award in 2003; the Excellence in Educational Leadership Award from the University Council for Educational Administration in 2002; and in 1999, in honor of her many contributions, Holt High School named the library for her.

Outstanding Alumnus in Journalism — David Mattingly received his bachelor’s in journalism from UA in 1982. Today, he spends his time as an Atlanta-based CNN correspondent and contributor for “The Point,” a nightly show that explores the top news of the day. He joined CNN in 1992 and has reported from Vietnam, South Africa and Cuba on issues ranging from politics, the environment and international business to entertainment. On Sept. 11, 2001 Mattingly was on vacation near Shanksville, Pa., where Flight 93 crashed. He was among the first national journalists to report from the scene of the crash. Other recent stories include the Andrea Yates capital murder trial in Houston and the protracted 2000 Presidential Election.

Mattingly has won several national awards for journalism. He has received National Headliner Awards as well as an Emmy award for his contribution to the “CNN Presents” program that focused on the Mississippi River floods.

Outstanding Alumnus in Telecommunication and Film — Steven Shipowitz received his bachelor’s in telecommunication and film communication from UA in 1987. Today, based in Atlanta, he is vice president and senior executive producer of the CNN Airport Network. He is responsible for overseeing all aspects of CNN Airport Network and CNN Airport Network International. In addition to managing the network’s staff, Shipowitz is responsible for all programming and on-air editorial decisions for CNN Airport Network. He also contributes to CNN Airport Network’s sales, marketing and programming deals.

Shipowitz is an award-winning producer who began his career at CNN in 1996 as a supervising producer, where he oversaw the day-to-day operations of the newscasts. He was promoted to associate general manager and senior executive producer. Before joining CNN, Shipowitz was an Atlanta-based freelance producer for MSNBC, where he was responsible for the set-up and execution of the network’s coverage of the 1996 Atlanta-based Summer Olympics. He also was an integral part of MSNBC’s coverage of the Republican and Democratic conventions.

The Bert Bank Distinguished Service Award — William F. “Bill” O’Conner Jr., of Birmingham, Ala., received his bachelor’s in journalism from UA in 1973 and his master’s in 1974. After years of hard work in education and in bringing jobs into Alabama, his career path took a new direction last November when he joined the newly established Campaign for Alabama as managing director. The goal of the organization is to reform Alabama’s tax structure, seek more efficiency and accountability in government and to improve the quality of education at all levels.

Before joining the Campaign for Alabama, O’Conner served as the president and CEO of the Business Council of Alabama. Before that he served as vice chancellor for public affairs in the UA System and is the former executive director of the Alabama Press Association. O’Conner served as an associate professor in the College of Communications’ department of advertising and public relations from 1986 until 1995 and was named the department’s Outstanding Alumnus in 1982.

O’Conner is an active supporter of the American Cancer Society where he was recognized as Volunteer of the Year and served on the national board, as well as the Child Abuse Prevention Center in Tuscaloosa. He has worked for more than 15 years to provide service and leadership to the University and to the state of Alabama through both corporate and governmental relations as an advocate for a better Alabama.

Note to Editors in Birmingham, Montgomery, Atlanta, Ga., and Jackson, Miss: UA Alumni in your area will receive an award.