Kent State University’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication will celebrate the outstanding achievements of three alumni and one extraordinary “friend” at its annual Alumni Awards and Friends Reception on Oct. 2.

Christine Plonsky

2015 William D. Taylor Award: Christine Plonsky

Christine Plonsky, a 1979 Kent State journalism graduate, has been selected as the 2015 William D. Taylor Award Journalism Alumna of the Year. The Taylor Award is presented annually at Homecoming to an alumna or alumnus who is well-established and well-respected in the media and communications industry, and has given back to Kent State’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication students and/or the school.

Plonsky is the women’s athletic director at the University of Texas, a position she has held since 2001. She has been a leading figure in athletics for nearly four decades and is considered a leader among her peers, not only for the barriers she has broken in a male-dominated profession, but for the leadership role she has taken on important issues impacting intercollegiate athletics. During her time at Kent State, Plonsky played women’s basketball and served as the editor for The Daily Kent Stater. A former member of the National Association for College Marketing Administrators (NACMA), she was inducted into the NACMA Hall of Fame in 2003.

David Lawson

2015 Fast Track Award: David Lawson and Danielle Wiggins

David Lawson, a 2011 graduate from the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, has been selected as one of the 2015 Fast Track Award recipients. Lawson studied advertising at Kent State and was an active member of the advertising club, and worked at both the Tannery (now IdeaBase), a marketing/advertising agency staffed by Kent State students, and in marketing and advertising at the university’s Department of Recreational Services. Lawson started his career at Hill Holliday in New York in 2011 and currently works as an insight strategist at Miner & Co. Studio, a market research agency in SoHo, where he specializes in quantitative research.

Danielle Wiggins

Danielle Wiggins, a recipient of the 2015 Fast Track award, earned her bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism in 2004 and her master’s degree in arts, entertainment and media management in 2009. After graduate school, Wiggins served as the main producer for WKSU's The Regina Brett Show, a program that won the 2013 Ohio Excellence in Journalism award for best radio show. She has held a variety of producing roles at Cleveland’s local CBS and ABC affiliates and has worked as the traffic reporter for WKYC-TV, the local NBC affiliate in Cleveland, since 2013.

2015 Sharon Marquis Friend of JMC Award: Gary Harwood

Gary Harwood

The 2015 Sharon Marquis Friend of JMC Award will be presented to Gary Harwood. Each year, this award is presented to an individual who has demonstrated remarkable support to the School of Journalism and Mass Communication’s mission and its students. Harwood first came to Kent State in 1979 as a student and later joined the university as a photographer and lecturer in the mid ‘80s. This is Harwood’s second time receiving this award.

Along with his contributions to Kent State, Harwood has also co-authored an award-winning book titled Growing Season: The Life of a Migrant Community. He is an instructor for the Unseen Cleveland photography project, a division of Unseen America, and an Artist in Residence with the Ohio Arts Council.

For more information about Kent State’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication, visit www.kent.edu/jmc.