April 11, 2025 | Kelly Youngblood Netflix director Emma Miller (BS ’08, media studies) says returning to campus to speak at the 2025 College of Media Convocation ceremony feels like a full-circle moment for her. As a Media student at Illinois, she remembers renting DVDs through Netflix’s mail subscription service for her film classes. “I […]
March 19, 2025 Helen Katz (MS ’86, advertising; PhD ’88, ICR), EVP of Research at Publicis Media, has been named the recipient of the prestigious 2025 Erwin Ephron Demystification Award. This lifetime achievement award honors industry leaders who are exceptional communicators and excel in making complex subjects accessible, embodying the spirit of legendary advertising research guru Erwin Ephron. […]
March 19, 2025 Armando Sanchez-Monsivais (BS ’19, advertising), integrated marketing manager at Discord, received the American Advertising Federation’s Most Promising Rising Star Award for 2025. The Most Promising Rising Star Award recognizes alumni who have made notable contributions to the advertising industry within five to eight years of graduating from the Most Promising program. This accolade […]
January 22, 2025 Jay Rosenstein (BS ’82, Grainger Engineering; MS ’98, journalism; MFA ’17, FAA), professor emeritus of media and cinema studies, recorded and released a new album with his band the Woke Mountain Boys titled Afraid of Leaving Home.The album was recently selected for two top ten Best Albums of 2024 lists from Illinois Entertainer. Rosenstein […]
Nicole Anderson Cobb (MS ’16, journalism) shared her experience with historical research and theater-making in the newly released edited volume Dramaturgy & History: Staging The Archive. Dramaturgy and History provides a practical account of an aspect of dramaturgical practice that is often taken for granted: dramaturgs’ engagements with history and historiography. Anderson Cobb’s chapter centers on her […]
Stuart Lieberman (BS ’10, journalism; BA ’10, LAS) was named head of communications at SailGP, overseeing media, public relations, and communications in North and South America. SailGP is an international sailing competition that features high-performance F50 foiling catamarans, where teams compete across a season of multiple grands prix around the world. Before Lieberman joined SailGP, […]
December 12, 2024 | Kelly Youngblood Cheryl Whitlow Thompson (BS ’82, LAS; MS ’84, journalism) will be the first to tell you journalism is not just a job to her—it’s who she is. Digging deep to uncover truths, holding those in power accountable, and asking the tough questions comes naturally to the investigative correspondent and senior editor […]
Kate McQueen (BA ’02, LAS; MS ’17, journalism) has been named the winner of the 2024 Henry Fuhrmann Mentor Award by ACES: The Society for Editing and the Asian American Journalists Association-Los Angeles. McQueen, editorial director of the Pollen Initiative, was honored for her work with new and aspiring journalists and nonfiction writers who are incarcerated. McQueen, who mentored […]
Sal Nudo (MS ’16, journalism) has published a guidebook, Champaign-Urbana Greater than a Tourist, which contains advice on places to eat and visit in C-U and information about the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The book is part of CZYK Publishing’s Greater than a Tourist series. The 50 categories in the guidebook include the twin cities’ annual events and […]
Mark S. Grochocinski (BS ’77, journalism) has published his first book: Out of the Corner of the Eye: Averted Visions of Jack the Ripper. Grochocinski offers an oblique, subtle, and nuanced view of Jack the Ripper and his crimes via a series of vignettes—its focus is on his time in place, not his place in time. […]