Hollifield, Hudson retire

Grady College is honoring the retirement of two of its journalism professors, Ann Hollifield, the former Thomas C. Dowden Professor of Media research, and Tom Hudson, a senior lecturer in journalism.

“Both Ann and Tom leave holes in Grady, but also a lasting legacy of excellence and dedication to students,” said Janice Hume, the Carolyn McKenzie and Don E. Carter Chair for Excellence in Journalism. Hume also serves as the Department of Journalism head.

Hollifield specializes in media management and economics, and taught classes focusing on media and broadcast station ownership and management. She also directed Grady’s graduate certificate in Media Analytics. In addition to studying domestic media ownership, she researched international communication policy and the effects of international copyright law and sustainability on the economies ranging from rural communities to developing nations.

Hollifield served on the Grady College faculty for 22 years, working first as an assistant professor of telecommunications and the coordinator of the Michael J. Faherty Broadcast Management Lab. She earned her title of Dowden professor in 2008 and served as the Department of Telecommunications head from 2008 until 2014. As the Dowden professor, Hollifield not only directed the media analytics certificate, but also oversaw several international media forums, including the Media and Public Sphere International Conference in 2016.

“Ann Hollifield gave much to our college as a preeminent scholar in media management and economics and a popular teacher,” Hume said.

Hollifield won numerous awards for her teaching and research, including, most recently, the Top Faculty Paper at the 2016 AEJMC conference. In 2001, she was named a Senior Policy Fellow with the Voinovich Center for Leadership and Public Affairs in Ohio.

Hollifield shows no signs of slowing her international travel and research in retirement. This summer she participated as a panelist in the plenary session at the Global Media Forum in Bonn, Germany. Hollifield is married to Lee Becker, professor emeritus in journalism, who retired in 2017.

Hudson taught journalism courses at Grady College for 24 years, including news writing and lab, one of the core offerings in Grady’s journalism program. His research foci included writing methods of published authors, and he also taught classes in journalism ethics, magazine writing and editing.

“Tom Hudson is a wonderful, kind teacher who guided so many journalism and public relations majors through their first reporting and writing course,” Hume said. “There is no telling how many students earned their first professional bylines with stories written for his class.”

In addition to teaching writing workshops around the Athens community, Hudson also spent time teaching at the Carnegie School of Journalism at the Pennsylvania State University prior to his position at Grady College. He worked several years as a journalist in Pennsylvania following college.

Among the accolades Hudson received, he most recently was the recipient of the Excellence in Journalism Education Award from the Department of Journalism.