Five Receive Robert C. Jeffery Award for Contributions to College of Communication

AUSTIN, Texas – Nov. 10, 2006 – Five people will be recognized by the College of Communication at The University of Texas at Austin with the inaugural Robert C. Jeffrey Benefactor Award for their contributions of time, labor and philanthropy.

Wofford Denius, B.B.A. ’74, director of the Cain Foundation and a music industry attorney in Los Angeles, is being recognized for his support of the University of Texas Los Angeles Center through the Wofford Denius UT in LA Scholarship and the Denius Music Industry Internship Program.

Sheldon Ekland-Olson, the Rapoport Centennial Professor of Liberal Arts in the Department of Sociology in the College of Liberal Arts and former provost of the university, is being recognized for his support of multiple College of Communication initiatives, including the Annette Strauss Institute for Civic Participation and the Carnegie Initiative on the Future of Journalism Education.

Jeff Hunt, B.J. ’84, CEO & president of GCI Group in Austin, is being recognized for his support of the Department of Advertising as a curriculum advisor, adjunct professor and student mentor, and his support for the college as an advisory council member and benefactor.

Eddie Safady, chairman of the board and CEO of Prosperity Bank in Austin, is being recognized for his support of the University of Texas Film Institute through his involvement as a board member and financial advisor to Burnt Orange Productions.

Margaret Surratt, B.A. ’69, executive assistant in the Department of Communication Studies in the College of Communication at the university, is being recognized for more than 30 years of service to the department and her unflagging support of generations of communication students.

Robert C. Jeffrey, who died in 2000, was the third dean of the College of Communication and is considered by many to be the college’s finest ambassador ever.

“Since becoming dean, I have been searching for the proper way to honor Bob,” said Roderick P. Hart, dean of the College of Communication. “He was a person of extraordinary warmth and commitment; a person of irresistible charm.”

The Jeffrey Awards will be presented at a Friends-of-the-College dinner tonight and will be given each year to no more than five of the college’s special benefactors.

Robert C. Jeffrey’s bio is available at: http://www.utexas.edu/faculty/council/2000-2001/memorials/Jeffrey/jeffrey.html

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Contact: Erin Geisler

(512) 475-8071

erin.geisler@austin.utexas.edu