A year in review: Grady College 2024 accomplishments

2024 has been a year full of accomplishments at Grady College. Students, faculty and programs have achieved outstanding milestones including national recognitions, groundbreaking research, innovative programs and international collaborations.

Ten of the many accomplishments of 2024 are highlighted below in chronological order. 

1. Cassidy Hettesheimer, Sports Media senior, won the “Top Student Paper” award at the Summit on Communication and Sport in Los Angeles. Hettesheimer’s paper, “Outside and online: A gendered analysis of how female adventure athletes utilize social media,” zeroes in on the role social media plays in the professional and personal lives of female adventure sports athletes. She found that while social media provides clear marketing and promotional benefits, the platforms also subject athletes to feelings of unwanted comparison and sexualization. More information on this accomplishment can be found here.
2. Dr. Carolina Acosta-Alzuru, a professor in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations in Grady College, received a Fulbright Distinguished Scholar Award to conduct research in Turkey, furthering her work studying Turkish television dramas. More information on this accomplishment can be found here.
3. Works created by Matthew Nolte Evans, an assistant professor in Entertainment and Media Studies (EMST), and eight EMST students earned high recognition at the 2024 Broadcast Education Association (BEA) Festival of Media Arts competition. More information on each recognition and project can be found here.
4. Esther Kim, a fourth-year public relations major, was named Outstanding Student in the nation by PRWeek, one of the industry’s leading trade publications. Morgan Jones, a fourth-year public relations student, was also named one of the Top Five Outstanding Students. More information on these accomplishments can be found here.
5. The University of Georgia was approved to offer a Graduate Certificate in Crisis, Risk, and Disaster Communication (CRDC), a program that educates students in skills needed for proactive, readiness competencies to address complex communication issues. The interdisciplinary certificate is a collaborative program bringing together three nationally recognized UGA programs to educate students: the Crisis Communication Think Tank at Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, the Risk Management and Insurance program at Terry College of Business and Institute for Disaster Management at the College of Public Health. More information on this program can be found here.
6. A group of nine students and two professors from Grady College traveled to Paris to work with the Associated Press to cover the Paralympics.  More information on this trip and the work produced can be found here.
7. The Crisis Communication Think Tank (CCTT) at Grady College launched its inaugural international programs in the Netherlands. A team of CCTT U.S. members and partners led a crisis readiness executive workshop in Rotterdam based on a collaboration between the University of Georgia and Erasmus University Rotterdam. More information on this event can be found here.
8. The University of Georgia Master of Fine Arts in Film, Television and Digital Media was named to the list of Top 50 Film Schools across the country by The Wrap, a leading publication in the media and entertainment industry.  This is the first time the UGA MFA Film program has been named to a national list and it debuted at number 43.  More information on this accomplishment can be found here.
9. The Grady College Department of Advertising and Public Relations graduate students, Anne Perera and Sihao “Max” Zhou, received distinguished honors for their research in public relations and communications. More information on their research and awards can be found here.
10. For the second consecutive year, the University of Georgia’s Advertising and Public Relations program was named a top five finalist for Outstanding Education Program in the nation by PRWeek, one of the leading publications in the public relations industry. More information on this accomplishment can be found here.

Author: Lauren A. Pike, lauren.pike@uga.edu