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Dr. Tudor Vlad, one of the recipients of the 2015 IDEA Award for Service. |
Associate Director Receives IDEA Award For Service
The IDEA Society, a student organization at the University of Georgia, presented its IDEA Award for Service to Dr. Tudor Vlad, associate director of the James M. Cox Jr. Center for International Mass Communication Training and Research, at the Society’s annual banquet in October.
In announcing the award, the group said Dr. Vlad has made "valuable efforts towards continuously fostering democracy and stability globally and particularly in emerging democracies by promoting freedom of speech, independent media and inter‑ethnic dialogue.”
The IDEA Society said it selected Dr. Vlad because he also has made "valuable contribution to the University of Georgia and Athens community." The other recipient of the award was Ira Edwards Sr., sheriff of Athens‑Clarke County.
In accepting the award at the Oct. 22 event in the Georgia Center for Continuing Education on the University of Georgia Campus, Dr. Vlad said: “ This award is an extraordinary honor to me and I see it as a tribute to many UGA individuals and organizations that have done valuable work all over the world in a variety of areas, making the University of Georgia an institution with remarkable international reputation. The Cox International Center, that I am representing here tonight, has done this more than 30 years, focusing on media freedom and professionalism and dialog.”
“I am so very pleased that Tudor’s hard work in the service of democracy has been recognized by this important student organization,” Dr. Lee B. Becker, director of the Cox International Center said.
“Tudor has a great understanding of the challenges of democracy and the role that communication can play,” Dr. Becker said. “He also brings a warmth and empathy to everything he does that makes him a very special person indeed.”
Dr. Vlad first came to the Cox International Center in the autumn of 1999 as a Fulbright Senior Scholar and stayed on to contribute to the work of the Center following that assignment.
At the time of his selection for the Fulbright award, Dr. Vlad was a member of the faculty of the Department of Journalism at the Babes‑Bolyai University. Dr. Vlad founded and chaired the Department of Journalism.
The IDEA Society represents the Atlantic Institute in the Athens area. The Atlantic Institute, a non-profit organization headquartered in Atlanta, aims to create opportunities for dialogue between communities and individuals throughout the Southeast.
The Oct. 22 Annual Dialogue and Friendship Dinner is one of the IDEA Society’s main events.
