University Communications receives national awards

University Communications at the UW–Madison has received two national awards this year from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.

Senior photographer Jeff Miller received the Photographer of the Year gold award for a portfolio of 20 campus images created within the past three years. There were 33 entrants. The images were published in several university periodicals including Wisconsin Week, On Wisconsin and the annual wall calendar. Miller received a gold award in 1998 and a bronze in 1996.

On Wisconsin, the alumni magazine produced with the Wisconsin Alumni Association and UW Foundation, won a CASE silver medal in the category of Periodical Staff Writing. Thirty-three universities entered this category. Judging criteria were: An understanding of the institution’s mission and the ability to communicate that mission through imaginative writing; superior writing style, organization, and careful editing; and creative story ideas and development.

The competition required universities to submit five feature stories for consideration. Here are the stories written by John Allen, Wisconsin Alumni Association, or Michael Penn, University Communications.

• “Dot-com Survivors,” UW alumni try to make it in the e-commerce world, by Allen;
• “The Past Walks With Us,” a chronicle of UW–Madison’s Freedom Ride class, by Penn;
• “The Switch,” a profile of UW–Madison’s Theodore Bernstein, an electric chair expert, by Allen;
• “Street Person,” a UW sociology professor studies the street culture of New York City, by Penn; and
• “A Muslim’s Jihad,” part of the magazine’s coverage of 9/11, by Penn.