Tennessee Alumnus Takes Top Honors at CASE District III

KNOXVILLE-Capping off a centennial year in which Tennessee Alumnus was redesigned and told the stories of the University of Tennessee’s history, milestones and its most accomplished alumni of the last century, the magazine took home top honors at the Council for the Advancement of Education (CASE) District III awards in Atlanta. Represented at the awards presentation Tuesday by managing editor Jennifer Sicking, art director Laura Barroso and former director of photography Adam Brimer, Tennessee Alumnus won the Grand Award for magazine/tabloid improvement and another award for overall excellence in the magazine category.

“I’m grateful to the excellent writers and communication professionals across the UT system who bring great ideas and great work to the magazine and its system-wide perspective,” Sicking said. “Our art director, Laura Barroso, makes sure every page is compelling and the contributions of photographers and artists from every UT campus give Laura exceptional elements for creating beautiful design. We can’t thank our colleagues enough for the team effort behind these awards, which belong to all of us.

“We really appreciate our readers, too. Their feedback on each issue helps us improve continually. From a reader survey last fall, we were gratified to learn how much our recent coverage of the University’s role in responding to the 2016 Smoky Mountain wildfires, water safety and accessibility issues, and outreach to distressed areas in and outside the United States resonated with our readers.”

Tennessee Alumnus has published continuously since its start in 1917. The magazine’s 100th anniversary commemoration in 2017 included bonus packages of “Centennial Alumni” profiles of the most-accomplished graduates of any UT campus in the last century, as chosen by UT alumni. A complete redesign overseen by Barroso also debuted in 2017, featuring updated print and online layouts, with the latter created by web designer Nick Simson. Brimer oversaw photography throughout 2017 and has since joined UT Knoxville staff.

The magazine’s most recent previous recognition from CASE District III includes a 2015 award of excellence for overall best practices in communications and marketing, and a 2014 award of excellence for magazine/tabloid improvement. The magazine also has won multiple awards for writing from the East Tennessee chapter of the Public Relations Society of America and from the Tennessee College Public Relations Association.

Tennessee Alumnus is produced by the UT System Office of Communications and Marketing for the UT Office of Development and Alumni Affairs. The magazine publishes three times a year and is distributed to graduates of all UT campuses.

“I look forward to continuing our excellent work with the collaboration of our UT colleagues across the state,” Sicking said. “Tennessee Alumnus is the University’s family album and, through our storytelling, we capture the history of UT, its faculty and its alumni.”

Tags: Adam Brimer, Awards, Featured, Jennifer Sicking, Laura Barroso, Nick Simson, Tennessee Alumnus magazine