Ben Deutsch retired from The Coca-Cola Company in December 2017 after a 25-year career, the last 11 years of which he served as Vice President, Corporate Communications. In this global leadership role, Deutsch was responsible for external and internal communications for the world’s largest beverage company.
Prior to joining Coca-Cola, Deutsch worked at the public relations firms of Shandwick USA in Bloomington, Minn., and Wells & Miller in Minneapolis. He also was a sports reporter for the Wisconsin State Journal.
Currently, Deutsch serves on the advisory boards of BoxLock, a start-up security solutions company, and Own the Room, an interactive communications training organization.
Deutsch also serves on the Board of Directors of Extra Special People, which creates transformational experiences for people with disabilities and their families; Covenant House Georgia, which supports homeless and trafficked youth; the Posse Foundation-Atlanta, which recruits, trains and connects dynamic high school students from diverse backgrounds with top colleges and universities; and the HAVE Foundation, which provides quality education for the children of the Agalta Valley of Honduras.
He is a graduate of the School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and holds an Executive Master of Science degree in sport business from Temple University. Deutsch and his wife, Karen, have two adult children and reside in Dunwoody, Georgia.
Tracy Coley (ABJ ’90, MFA ’19) worked for nearly 30 years as a writer, editor, graphic designer, and student mentor in marketing and communications for the University of Georgia. She is former editor and digital marketing specialist for Boom Magazine, and currently freelances her writing, editing and graphic design craft in magazine and book publishing. Tracy earned both her degrees from the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, including an undergraduate degree in advertising and an MFA in narrative nonfiction. In her spare time, she writes about family, faith, grief, resilience and the human spirit, and enjoys deep diving into genealogical and historical research. Tracy has taught Graphics for Journalists and currently teaches Writing and Reporting Across Platforms at Grady.
Samples of her writing can be found on her website TracyColey.com.
Alison Miller (MFA ’21) is a freelance writer and editor in Athens, Georgia. She is a 2021 graduate of the Narrative Nonfiction MFA program at the University of Georgia, a 2006 graduate of New York University’s journalism school, and a 2004 graduate of the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. She has worked on staff at two national magazines: Travel + Leisure and Southwest: The Magazine (the airline’s in-flight magazine).
As a freelancer she has written for Gravy, The Bitter Southerner, Atlanta Magazine, Sports Illustrated, The Local Palate, Southern Living, Charlotte Magazine, Our State, Four Seasons Magazine, and others.
She has spent the past three years immersed in the local indie pro wrestling scene in Georgia and is working on a book about the depth of this sports entertainment tradition and why it persists on small stages throughout the South.
You can see her work at alisonlynmiller.com.
Mark V. Jones attended Sacramento State University and received a bachelor’s degree in film production/studies with a minor in business in 2013. After working at UC Davis and UC Merced in academic advising, he moved to Los Angeles to work in the film industry. While working in the industry, Professor Jones attended the University of Georgia’s Low-Residency MFA screenwriting program and graduated in 2018. He has film and television scripts accepted to multiple film festivals around the world.
Danyelle Greene is a scholar-practitioner whose research and teaching interests include African American cinema, documentary and aesthetics. She focuses especially on the politics of representation and re-presentation of blackness, gender, and religion in film. In addition to her written scholarship, Dr. Greene uses filmmaking as a mode of critical inquiry and exploration. Her research has appeared in journals such as Black Camera and the Journal of Popular Culture. She also co-directed an art exhibition titled In My Hands in which she presented her co-produced video installation, “Twice As Hard,” and triptych, “Always Already.”
Dr. Greene received her Ph.D. in film and media studies from the University of Kansas.
Charlotte Norsworthy Varnum (ABJ ’19, MA ’20) is a part-time instructor at Grady College and serves as program coordinator for the Cox Institute’s News Literacy Certificate. Varnum is also executive director for The Red & Black Publishing, Co., an independent student media nonprofit that publishes the largest student newspaper in Georgia, provides journalism training, produces year-round daily online news and publishes a family of specialty publications including “UGA 101” and the 50,000-circulation “University of Georgia Visitors Guide.” Prior to joining The Red & Black in 2021, Varnum worked for journalistic outfits such as The Outlaw Ocean Project, Bloomberg TV & Radio, National Public Radio and Turner. Varnum earned bachelor of arts degrees in journalism and political science in 2019, and her master’s degree in journalism in 2020.
Johnston has covered sporting events on every level in his 33 years as a writer and editor for daily newspapers and websites. He was recognized as one of the country’s top sports columnists in 2004. He and his wife Lori started Fast Copy Communications, a freelance writing/editing/marketing company that contributed more than 1,000 articles a year to publications and websites across the country. His clients have included the NCAA, The Associated Press, FoxSportsSouth.com, DawgNation, SEC Country, CNN and the AJC, among others. He currently serves as editor of the Oglethorpe Echo, teaching a capstone class of student journalists who write for the weekly newspaper.
Education
- MA, Emerging Media, University of Georgia, 2021
- ABJ, University of Georgia, 1988
Writer and director Leandro Tadashi did his undergrad in Film and TV Production at the University of São Paulo and has been awarded several production and development grants that provided funds for his film projects. His short films have been screened in over 300 festivals worldwide, like the Festival de Cinema de Gramado (Brazil) and the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival (France).
In 2015, Tadashi finished his MFA in Film & TV Production at the School of Cinematic Arts at USC. In Los Angeles, he directed the short “Tomorrow” (2014), and co-directed the feature “Actors Anonymous” (2017). The feature was produced by Elysium Bandini Studios and was based on the book written by James Franco, who also acted in the film.
Solyee Kim graduated from Grady College with her doctorate degree in 2022. Her research focuses on identity, representation, and culture including diversity, equity and inclusion, and experiences of marginalized communities in public relations and media practices.
Previously, Solyee worked at a public relations firm in Atlanta and participated in a PRSA award-winning video marketing series. She also interned with a wide range of non-profit organizations including the United Nations Non-Government Liaison Service in New York, the International Rescue Committee in Atlanta, the Korean Federation of UNESCO and the Special Olympics. Prior to working in public relations, she worked as a freelance translator and interpreter traveling to the United States and the Middle East for various companies.
She earned her M.A. in journalism and mass communication with a concentration on public relations at the University of Georgia and her B.A. in German language and literature with a minor in political science and diplomacy from Chung-Ang University in Seoul, South Korea.
Brittany Walker holds a Ph.D. in Mass Communication she received from Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication in 2021. She is currently an instructor in the Department of Entertainment and Media Studies for the courses Writing for Entertainment Media and Television History.
Dr. Walker specializes in entertainment media and environmental communication. Her particular research interest is advocating for climate communication that centers adaptation and technological development, rather than calling for reducing emissions. Prior to her studies at Grady, Dr. Walker worked for various entertainment and environmental organizations in positions that involved public relations and the creation of communicative materials.
Educational Background
Ph.D. Mass Communication
University of Georgia 2021
Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication
M.S. Public Communication and Technology
Colorado State University 2015
Journalism and Media Communication
