UA College of Communication and Information Sciences Honors Outstanding Alumni, Professors

Note to editors in Atlanta, Birmingham, San Antonio, Texas and Tuscaloosa: A resident of your area received an award.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Five University of Alabama alumni were presented with Outstanding Alumni Awards from the University’s College of Communication and Information Sciences during Honors Week activities.

Recipients include Scott France, executive vice president/co-publisher of France Publications, Inc. in Atlanta; Dr. L. Brooks Hill, professor and chair of the Trinity University department of speech and drama in San Antonio, Texas; Michelle Cox Gerlach, publisher of The Andalusia Star-News and vice president of Boone Newspapers, Inc. in Andalusia, Ala.; Jonathan Katz, senior vice president and general manager of program planning, acquisitions and Peachtree TV for Turner Entertainment Group in Atlanta; James Spann, chief meteorologist at ABC 33/40 in Birmingham, Ala.

Two professors, Dr. Johnny Sparks, assistant professor of telecommunication and film, and Dr. Yorgo Pasadeos, professor of advertising and public relations, were presented with the College’s Board of Visitors Teaching Excellence Awards.

The C&IS award recipients are as follows:

Outstanding Alumnus in Advertising and Public Relations – Scott France

Scott France is the executive vice president and co-publisher of France Publications Inc., a growing business-to-business media company. As the leading publisher of commercial real estate magazines in the United States, France Publications offers 10 magazines that cater to all commercial property types to suit any reader in the industry. In the growing wealth management and trust field, France Publications has five publications that cover the industry from coast-to-coast. In operations, maintenance and construction, they offer two titles tuned to various aspects of real estate.

Outstanding Alumnus in Communication Studies – Dr. L. Brooks Hill

Dr. L. Brooks Hill is currently professor and chair in the department of speech and drama at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, positions he has held since 1988. Among his honors, he received an AMOCO Outstanding Teaching Award and the Z.T. Scott Faculty Fellowship, Trinity University’s highest award for teaching and advising. Perhaps his greatest distinction is the amazing success of the many students he has taught in his 41 years as a university faculty member. Estimates are that he has taught more than 7,000 undergraduates and nearly 2,000 graduate students during his career.
Outstanding Alumna in Journalism – Michele Cox Gerlach

Michele Cox Gerlach is the fourth generation of her family to work in community newspapers. She grew up in the office of The Elba Clipper,the weekly paper her parents own in Elba. During the past 22 years, she has worked as a reporter, editor, publisher and public relations director, and, from time to time, moonlighted in the restaurant her husband owned in Atmore. At present, she is the publisher of The Andalusia Star-News and a vice president of Boone Newspapers Inc.

Outstanding Alumnus in Telecommunication and Film – Jonathan Katz

Jonathan Katz is Turner Entertainment Group senior vice president/general manager of program planning, acquisitions and Peachtree TV. Prior to joining Turner
Entertainment Group in 2000, Katz served as vice president of marketing for the world’s leading syndicated news service, CNN Newsource Sales Inc. In this role, he oversees strategic program planning for the entertainment networks, analyzing potential acquisitions and acquiring product for air on all Turner entertainment networks. He also supervises all aspects of Peachtree TV (WPCH-TV), Turner Broadcasting System Inc.’s local broadcast platform in Atlanta.

Betsy Plank Distinguished Achievement – James Spann

James Spann is the chief meteorologist at the ABC affiliate in Birmingham. In all, Spann has been a television weather anchor for 30 years. Along the way he has worked for WCFT in Tuscaloosa, WSFA in Montgomery, KDFW in Dallas and two other stations in Birmingham. In 2001, Spann received an Emmy Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. He was one of the first weather anchors in the nation to earn “Certified Broadcast Meteorologist” status from the American Meteorological Society.

Board of Visitors Teaching Excellence Awards – Dr. Johnny Sparks and Dr. Yorgo Pasadeos

Dr. Johnny Sparks is an assistant professor and former interim graduate coordinator in the telecommunication and film department at UA. His teaching duties have been equally divided among the College’s graduate and undergraduate offerings. Of note, he has served on 25 graduate student committees and mentored a McNair Scholar in 2008-09. Sparks is also a finalist for UA’s 2009 Last Lecture Award. The former Kinsey Institute Fellow earned his doctorate from Indiana University in 2006.

Dr. Yorgo Pasadeos has been on the C&IS faculty since 1982, when he received his doctorate from the University of Texas at Austin. He teaches advertising and mass communication courses and serves as graduate director of the department of advertising and public relations. Pasadeos is the College’s former associate dean for graduate studies and a past recipient of the Kappa Tau Alpha Teaching Award and the Knox Hagood Faculty Award.