Location: Greeley, Colorado
Business Type: University-Higher Education
Nomination Title: Professor of the Year, Inspirational/Visionary Leader
Category: Making A Difference
If you are lucky, sometime in your academic career you have the opportunity to learn your future trade from someone who is so exceptional that being exposed to them for even a short time, shapes the way you go about your life and your career.
When I was a journalism student at the University of Texas many years ago, I had two such professors. Griff Singer was a gruff (mostly fake) old newspaperman who ran the Daily Texan like he was Ben Bradlee and we were uncovering the Watergate scandal for the Washington Post. I can still feel his copy editing cutting straight to the bone. Red Gibson was a dynamic personality who commanded respect. He had this strong air of professionalism about him that defined his role as teacher and ours as students. There was a respect that bordered on fear, but you could sense that it was a cover-up for the deep compassion he had for his students. His classes were fun and interesting and you didn’t want to miss them. Those two men inspired me and taught me lessons I remember today.
Two journalism students at the University of Northern Colorado think that journalism Professor Gary Swanson is one of those special teachers. International students Anne-Sophie Garrigou from France and Alejandro Alamo Sanabria from Spain, nominated Swanson for a Communitas Award for his unselfish dedication to his profession and his students. In addition to wanting to proclaim him Professor of the Year, the students cited Swanson as an Inspirational/Visionary Leader… incredibly high praise coming from his students. After reading the nomination, the judges agreed. Although we can’t bestow a Professor of the Year Award, we are pleased to present Professor Swanson with a Communitas Award.
After you read the nomination letter, we think you’ll agree that Professor Swanson is a special person deserving of recognition.
Nominators: Anne-Sophie Garrigou and Alejandro Alamo Sanabria
Professor Gary Swanson University of Northern Colorado
It has been about 9 months that we have known Professor Swanson, and within that short time frame, he has truly inspired us and made a tremendous impact and difference in our lives. We are both from different countries: France (Sophie) and Spain (Alejandro or Alex) and came to the University of Northern Colorado as 1-year International students in the area of journalism.
In the fall, 2011, we both signed up for Professor Swanson’s Documentary class, his Visual Journalism for New Media class, and Sophie also took Broadcast News Writing with Dr. Swanson. From our first meeting with Professor Swanson he was sincere, truly interested in the well-being and success of his students, and announced he was always available by giving us his cell phone to contact him “any time – even on weekends” with questions or concerns. A professional relationship grew between us over time with mutual respect – and with that came trust.
After completion of the Documentary class in December, 2011 Professor Swanson offered us the opportunity to co-produce a documentary on The American Dream – a project that changed our lives forever. Professor Swanson offered to create and teach a directed-study course to each of us (Sophie and Alex) as well as 2 other students for course credit. And he received no additional time-off or pay to do this. Additionally, he went out of his way and paid out of his pocket for 3 of us to rent a car and drive from Greeley, Colorado to Cincinnati, Ohio and interview the director of the Center for the American Dream at Xavier University. He felt this would be a tremendous experience for us since we had not traveled around the country since we arrived in America in August, 2011. And the director was a critical interview for our documentary. Dr. Swanson also paid for our gas, food, and lodging. It was an incredible journey and took 5 days for us to complete and return to Colorado. Besides the monetary expenditure he provided, Dr. Swanson trusted us and had opened a gateway of friendships to be fostered, especially for us. This enabled both of us to create meaningful connections with people outside of the normal circle that we had already been exposed to at UNC, and in turn, expanded our horizons.
Today marks the start of our 17th year of creative competitions for the marketing and communication industry. We have seen more change in the last few years than in the first 10 years combined. In the early days, about 70 percent of our entries came by mail…. about a quarter from UPS and a handful from FedEx. On deadline day and the following Monday, we processed hundreds of packages. In those days, our mailman had a full route truck full of entries. He figured out when our deadlines were from our returned brochures and started taking those days off. As a result, more than once it was after 7 p.m when the substitute driver delivered the mail. After a few years, UPS gained market share and split the deliveries 50-50. UPS went on strike one year and FedEx picked off their market share. A few years ago, we started accepting entries online. Now about 80 percent of the entries are uploaded.
For the third year in a row, MarCom has a new website and a new brochure design. We also have a new commitment to deliver more than just well-deserved recognition. We know that many of you want to see the great work that others are doing, so we will be putting some of the work that catches the judges’ attention on our website, blog and Facebook. We know that entering work that you do for someone else can be nearly impossible to get permission to display, and that some entries are proprietary, so we won’t post anything without your consent. Before you can upload an entry, you have to tell us whether you will allow us to display your work. We will also ask for authorization before posting any submission that physically comes through the door.
In the final episode of AMC’s advertising reality show “The Pitch”, 
