The last time I met with Perla Johnson (’83 journalism) she had just finished publishing her first science fiction thriller “Global Warning.” The book begins in present-day Dallas and ends in 2040. Although it is fiction, Perla hopes it has helped raise public consciousness about climate change and how we think about the environment….so as I met with Perla last week to catch up and hear how the book has done and to hear about any new projects, she tells me she has started her own eco-friendly full-service advertising agency! The woman doesn’t stop. She is focusing on electronic media and using various printing techniques such as the use of soy ink and recyclable paper. She even showed me her recyclable steel business card holder and mentioned she found a bamboo laptop bag! You can read more by visiting Perla’s site at www.ecodfw.com.
We wish Perla all the best and who knows what she will be doing next time we visit her!
You’re about to see a lot of letters and numbers behind the name of Bette Oliver (BJ ‘60, MA ‘73, MA ‘91, PhD ‘97). When you have four degrees to your name, it happens!
Bette is a life-long scholar and author. She developed a love of journalism at UT in the 1950s. She credits former College of Communication dean, DeWitt Reddick, with fostering her interest in journalism. Bette continued her studies and would go on to earn a Master’s degree in journalism. She then spent nearly 20 years as the associate editor of the interdisciplinary journal, Libraries and Culture. It was during that time that French history struck her fancy. Bette then went back to school and emerged with Master’s and Doctorate degree in Modern European History. Bette cites Professor Nancy Barker as a mentor during her studies of European History.
Bette became a specialist in eighteenth century France, and has written extensively on the revolutionary and the Napoleonic period. Her two most recent books are “From Royal to National: The Louvre and the Bibiloteque Nationale (2006, Lexington) and Orphans of the Earth: Girondin Fugutives From the Terror, 1793-1794 (2009 Lexington ).
From Royal to National offers a comprehensive and innovative look into the effects of the French Revolution on the nation’s culture and identity. Orphans of the Earth deals with the lives of the Girondist deputies who had helped to establish the new French Republic and who became fugitives from their own government.
Her latest project, In Search of Better Worlds: From the French Revolution to the Ohio Wilderness (University of Alabama Press, in progress,) details the story of a group of French aristocrats (known as the “French Five Hundred”) who fled France after Bastille-day for the promise of a new life in the American frontier. They settled in the town of Gallipolis on the banks of the Ohio River.
In addition, Bette is also the author of eight volumes of poetry, including the 2005 “Confluences” published under the name Elizabeth W. Oliver.
Over a glass of iced tea at the New World Deli on Guadalupe, Bette told me about her life of learning. She made me realize, we should never close the door on education. Learning should be a life-long pursuit. That diploma on the wall shouldn’t be the end of our quest to learn and investigate topics we love. Just ask Bette. She’s still learning and loving it.
Stephen Parker (BS ADV ‘82) has enjoyed a successful career in advertising. The Texas-native worked at New York agencies, won prestigious awards and provided his creative expertise to businesses like AT&T, Finlandia Vodka and American Express. He now runs a freelance creative and design business, Creative Faucet, www.creativefaucet.net. But, creative minds don’t rest. That’s why Stephen has embarked a much different creative venture… a career in fine art.
I caught up with Stephen in northwest Austin where he was working on a painting of a beautiful iron gate and the surrounding foliage. His current focus is on plein air painting (painting from life and outdoors). He held his first exclusive art exhibition this past September and showed 17 small plein air and studio works. Stephen also exhibited his work at the Plein Air Austin Annual Show at Corrider of Arts in downtown Austin. He is currently working on a series of twenty larger studio works in oil. Check out his paintings. They might make for a unique Christmas gift: http://stephenparkerart.blogspot.com/.
2010 marks the 100th Year Anniversary of the Graduate School at the University of Texas. To celebrate the centennial, UT is sharing the stories of alumni that have used their time at UT as a spring board to success.
2008 Ph.D. rhetoric alumna Johanna Hartelius is featured here:
Johanna Hartelius came to the University of Texas in the fall of 2002 to study rhetoric, one of the oldest disciplines in the academy; by the time she had completed a Master’s degree and a PhD, she had discovered the contemporary relevance and utility of classical philosophies.
Hartelius, a native of Sweden, soon formed a collaborative relationship with Richard Cherwitz, one of her professors in the Department of Communication. “I realized immediately that Rick and I share a passion for the rhetorical tradition, and a very real commitment to the ways in which that tradition informs future directions for public universities,” Hartelius recalls. “He inspired me to think about the connections between rhetoric and engagement.”
Hartelius soon began working with Cherwitz on the Intellectual Entrepreneurship Consortium (IE) an initiative that emerged out of the UT Austin Graduate School in the late 1990s. She served for three years as director of one of the Consortium’s programs, the Pre-Graduate School Internship, during which time its enrollment grew from 15 undergraduate students to over 90. Over half of these students were part of the university’s underrepresented minority population. Hartelius says, “Working on the Internship was an amazing experience! I saw students take ownership of their education and professional goals in a way that neither they nor I had thought possible. They were identifying connections between college experiences and the ‘off campus’ community, recognizing that their abilities to engage and have a practical impact are real.”
Hartelius also describes the excitement of discovering connections between her own developing research program and the work with IE. “As the Internship grew, so did my dissertation on the rhetoric of expertise. I was so energized by realizing that the things that I was reading and writing about—ancient ideas about public discourse and the education of productive and informed citizens—were part of my day-to-day interactions with students.”
Since the fall of 2009, Hartelius is a tenure-track assistant professor of rhetoric and communication at Northern Illinois University. She continues to advise undergraduate and graduate students on strategies for integrating academic, professional, and personal commitments and ambitions. Her research explicates future developments for public universities as a function of becoming engaged institutions.
Share your alumni story – it could be included in a special edition hardcopy book to be published next year. Deadline for submissions is March 1, 2010.
The College was honored to host Stephanie Druley, senior coordinating producer at ESPN, for the day in November. Stephanie, who graduated with a Journalism degree in ‘89, oversees all NFL studio shows for ESPN — including the Emmy Award-winning Sunday NFL Countdown, Monday Night Countdown, NFL PrimeTime and NFL Live. In addition to managing all content, planning, budgeting and staffing for these programs, Stephanie is responsible for ESPN’s annual on-site coverage of the Super Bowl, as well as SportsCenter features during the NFL off-season. She has also had a major hand in the production of SportsCenter annual “My Wish” summer series, a collaborative effort with the Make-A-Wish Foundation that grants special sports-related wishes for children with life-threatening medical conditions.
Stephanie spent the day visiting with various classes throughout the day and also got to visit with the students working in the ABC Campus News Room. Stephanie shared her story with students and encouraged students to seek that dream job! While she is living her dream job and fulfilling her passion for sports, Stephanie acknowledged that it has been a lot of work and long hours. She laughed as she told students that sports don’t happen around a normal 8 to 5 job and that you have to be willing to put in the extra hours and weekends. She doesn’t have any regrets and loves what she is doing. Stephanie shared pointers on how to be successful in her mind which included knowing what you want and staying focused, being confident in yourself, being aggressive and persistent, networking and to remember everyone you meet along the way because you never know when your paths may cross again. Her other pointer for students which she mentioned in every class she visited was always ask good questions and know when to make that one question really count!
In addition Stephanie had the opportunity to watch the run-through and actual live taping of Texas Newswatch – where broadcast students report, write, edit and produce news stories. Stephanie gave them some great feedback after they finished taping and also told them it was the quietest control room she has ever been in! After the taping we made a final stop to visit with TSTV (Texas Student Television) students. While some asked career related questions others wanted to talk Sports! All wanted to know who her picks are for the Super Bowl and also what she thought of all the press Brett Favre was getting! After a full packed day I had to pull Stephanie away from the students (literally) in order to let her go and experience a little of Austin before heading back to Bristol!
It was May 12,1980. After a night of partying with friends and after a late-night brawl, Mark Henricks (BJ ‘81)came home with a broken arm. It wasn’t one of his finest moments, but hours later Mark says his life changed dramatically… for the better. While recuperating from his injury, Mark got a call from People Magazine. The popular weekly had an internship spot available and offered Mark the opportunity. A few weeks later, the kid from Irving was in the Big Apple and got his first taste of big-time journalism.
Not that his days at the Daily Texan were bad, but it was nothing compared to New York. He covered the 1980 Democratic National Convention at Madison Square Garden. Mark was hooked. A career in journalism was for him.
Mark started his career as mostly a business writer. He was worked for the Houston and the Dallas Business Journals and for 17 years was a regular columnist for Entreprenuer Magazine. One of Mark’s favorite articles is a piece about Cirque du Soleil for American Way magazine. Mark ventured to the troupe’s Montreal headquarters and took readers inside the life of a Cirque du Soleil performer. You can read the article and some of Mark’s others at markhenricks.com. You can also find Mark’s work in the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal.
Mark is also the author or co-author of 11 non-fiction books. One of his favorites is “Not Just A Living: The Complete Guide to Creating a Business That Gives You a Life.” It’s a book about finding one’s true calling. That’s something that Mark Henricks has taken to heart. By the way, that broken arm is feeling just fine.
It was just instinct. When a video clip of Colt McCoy played on the television screen at Via Quadronno in Miami, Suzan McDowell (BS ADV ‘87), dropped her fork, flashed the Hook ‘Em Horns sign and started belting out “Texas Fight!” Right in the middle of lunch! I knew I was dealing with a true Longhorn.
Those that know her, know that this is par for the course for Suzan. Her engaging personality, sharp wit and business acumen, has allowed Suzan to run her own company Circle of One Marketing. Suzan’s shop is a full service marketing, advertising and public relations agency. One of her biggest clients is Jazz in the Gardens. Under Suzan’s guidance, the event will grow to more than 50-thousand in attendance in just it’s fifth year. The two-day concert now is held at the home of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, Dolphin Stadium in Miami Gardens. This year Mary J. Blige will be the headliner.
One of Suzan’s biggest thrills was meeting Michelle Obama last year. Suzan says,
“Michelle Obama has given women like me, (working mothers, professional, educated, black and smart), a ‘face’ and a ‘brand’ that the public can identify with. There is an army of Black women just like me and her. Because she is the First Lady, the elegant, graceful, loving mate to the most powerful man in the world, she has opened doors that were previously closed.”
Suzan is a “must meet” in Miami, but to get to her you’ll have to get by her pug Mia. She shares an office with Suzan.
On the bookshelf: “Top Dogs and Their Pets”photography by David Woo and Richard Michael Pruitt, with a forward by Diane Rehm. (November 2009, Parapet Press)
Is there anything more revealing than our relationship with our pets? Flip through David Woo’s latest book “Top Dogs”, a collection of photographs of some of America’s “top dogs” with their animal friends (photographed with long-time collaborator Richard Micheal Pruitt), and the truth is clear. Our four-footed (and sometimes no-footed) friends rule our world.
Woo, a life-long pet lover, spent the past four years criss-crossing the country photographing some of America’s best known sports, entertainment, political and business figures (91 in all), many of them UT alumni. Part of the book’s proceeds will benefit the Cesar and Illusion Milan Foundation, which provides funding throughout the US for pet shelter and rescue groups, free or low-cost spay/neuter programs, and educational programs for children based on pet awareness.
“I knew a foundation like this would be the best beneficiary of the book,” Woo says, “I wanted to take the love people emanate for their pets and use it to help animals across the country.”
Woo photographed many UT luminaries, including Mack Brown, pictured with his cavalier King Charles spaniels, Crocket and Charlie.
(I know what you’re thinking – he does look just like his dogs!) See more portraits of some very special UT people after the jump (you know you want to look). Keep reading →
Julie Carruthers, Executive Producer of All My Children, came back to the 40 acres last month to speak with RTF students about her production career in the high pressure world of television day-time soap operas. She hadn’t been back to UT in quite some, but said that memories of her years at UT came back quickly. As we drove by Dobie Mall she remembered living there and being an RA. She also was very familiar with the studios (particularly 4A). Keep reading →
Dan Rather, the long-time CBS anchorman and College of Communication Advisory Council member, delivered the 2009 Mary Alice Davis Distinguished Lecture in Journalism at the Texas Union on October 22, 2009. Rather bluntly described the state of American journalism and issued a call to arms for UT’s journalism students.
In the words of Thomas Jefferson, “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, it expects what never was and never will be.” This is the message that those who care about the state of news needs to portray to the broad public if a free press is to survive in America, and by extension, freedom as we know it, is to survive in America.
The free press, Rather argued, is not just another sector of American business that needs a government bailout. Instead, he said, it is the integral piece of the country’s democratic infrastructure, and it’s giving signals of its imminent collapse. The news is the beating heart of America, and freedom of democracy resonates with the freedom of the press.
UTComm alumni RT @joahs: don't forget, Real Role Models book signing at Book People next Tuesday, Feb. 9 at 7pm - http://bit.ly/9CIAtG4 days agoFebruary 5, 2010
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