Grady Salutes 2025 celebrates alumni award honorees, Fellowship inductees

It was a day for celebration, with a touch of sentimentality, as alumni, faculty and friends of Grady College gathered for Grady Salutes on April 25, 2025.

For the second year in a row, Grady Salutes took place over lunch on the Schnitzer Family Media Lawn in front of the College that means so much to many.

Alumni Award honorees included:

• John E. Drewry Young Alumni Award — Anne Noland (ABJ ’15), vice president of communications, Miami Dolphins
• Professional Excellence Award — Marah Lidey (ABJ ’11), head of inclusive product, Pinterest
• John Holliman, Jr. Lifetime Achievement Award — Eric Baker (ABJ ’90), senior creative director, Universal Creative
• Distinguished Alumni Scholar Award — Heidi Hennink-Kaminski (PhD ’06), dean, College of Communication Arts and Sciences, Michigan State University

Six people were also inducted into the Grady College Fellowship, an honor for friends of the college whose accomplishments, friendship and service to the industries they serve have made a positive impact on Grady College:

• Malena Cunningham Anderson (ABJ ’80), founder, Newslady Productions
• David Chandley (ABJ ’84), chief meteorologist, FOX 5 Atlanta
• Bill Crane (ABJ ’84), founder, CSI Crane
• Sanders Hickey, managing partner, Golden Isles Broadcasting and HEH Communications
• Parker Middleton (Ph.D. ‘ 00, MFA ’21), retired, Grady College senior director of development
• Eric Baker (ABJ ’90) — induction as the Holliman Lifetime Achievement Award

The Rollin M. “Pete” McCommons Award for Distinguished Community Journalism was also presented by Jonathan Peters, head of the Department of Journalism, during the event. This year’s award was presented to April Alonso, on behalf of the staff of the Cicero Independiente in Illinois for their investigative series, “The Air We Breathe: Environmental concerns in the majority Latinx town of Cicero, IL.” Their reporting was in collaboration with MuckRock, a nonprofit collaborative news site.

Dean Charles Davis usually hosts Grady Salutes and was out recovering from an injury, so Diane Murray, director of alumni and outreach, introduced the program recognizing the honorees and their achievement, leadership and commitment.

Michael Gray, chair of the Grady Alumni Board, presented the alumni awards while Carole Munroe, chair of the Board of Trust, inducted the Fellows. Grady Ambassadors helped with the honors.

Each of the honorees spoke about what this award meant to them and the people who helped them accomplish their professional goals.

Heidi Hennink-Kaminski recalled the birth of her son, Cole, in Athens while she was earning her doctoral degree and what it meant to her to have him and her husband, Bob, return to the place that meant so much to their family.

“They keep me balanced and grounded and remembering what truly matters,” Kennink-Kaminski said.

Noland talked about the team of people who helped carry her across the finish line, including alumnus Claude Felton (ABJ ’70, MA ’71).

“Claude, thank you for seeing something in me and allowing me the opportunity to learn from you, from your staff…and teaching me to ‘always be nice to little people, because one day little people grow up to be big people,’ Noland said. “Your kindness to me and to everyone has been a guiding light for me throughout my career.” 

Lidey talked about following in the footsteps of her college friend, Erica Smith (ABJ ’10), who died in 2020.

“Because of the safety I felt in our relationship, I stood taller,” Lidey said in her remarks. “I went for opportunities I wouldn’t have otherwise, studied harder and felt more grounded throughout my college experience.”

Chandley thanked his wife, Lynn, and daughters, Lauren and Leah, for their sacrifice and support of his unpredictable schedule.

“I would not be here without you and still believe the best is yet to come,” Chandley said to his wife.

There were a lot of jokes, as well.

Baker talked about evoking Smokey and the Bandit, Jimmy Buffet and Kermit the Frog, all within less than five minutes during the Grady College convocation address he gave in 2022.

“I never thought the Grady College would let me have a microphone in front of a group again,” Baker joked.

Anderson recalled how her parents paid her to be quiet after she was talking too much as a child.

“I’m grateful they lived long enough to see their youngest child get paid to talk and become a multiple Emmy award winning journalist, filmmaker and actor,” she said. 

Other honorees, like Crane whose third grandchild was born that day, offered advice to young professionals.

“Don’t be afraid to do what’s right,” Crane advised. “Don’t be afraid to be that strident voice that doesn’t always agree with everyone else in your newsroom. Don’t be afraid to challenge the status quo. Some of those challenges and some of those attempts, you will not be successful. Just remember, when you fall, in the immortal words of Fred Astair, ‘Pick yourself up. Dust yourself off. Start all over again.’”

Hickey, who spoke with humility about what this honor meant to him, talked about the lessons Charles Giddens (ABJ ’67), his mentor, shared.

“It was Charles who led by example and showed a much younger Sanders Hickey that no job in a Broadcast organization was too small for the boss to handle,” he said. “Even if it’s emptying the trash can.”

Middleton closed the ceremony with calls of action for both students and professionals.

“To our students,” Middleton said, “you are The Greatest Generation. You will continue to lead with courage and heart, strong and resilient. To all of us: May we stay reminded of the hope and beauty of this campus. It’s people. It’s renewing possibility. It makes us part of what endures.”

Visit UGAGrady Flickr to view the album of Grady Salutes 2025 photos.

Visit UGAGrady on YouTube to view the video of acceptance speeches.

Author: Sarah Freeman, freemans@uga.edu