SMU’s official university photographer and the Office of Public Affairs received international awards for accomplishments in image photography and media relations during the 2012 Circle of Excellence Awards competition of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.

SMU photographer Hillsman S. Jackson (pictured above, right) won the international Gold award in the Photographer of the Year category for images featured in the SMU centennial coffee-table book, “SMU: Unbridled Vision.” SMU’s News and Communications team won an international CASE Silver award for “Planning Meets Opportunity: How Preparing a Dean to Blog Led to Major Media Exposure.” For the project, the team promoted Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences Dean William Tsutsui, an economic historian of Japan, as a media resource who could provide firsthand experience of the 2011 Japanese earthquake. Tsutsui was in Japan attending a conference and blogging about his experiences on the SMU Adventures blog when the earthquake occurred. International and local media carried the story across multiple mediums. The team who worked on the media relations project included Kent Best, Cherri Gann, Kim Cobb, Joan Jackson, Christina Voss, Nancy George, Eva Parks, Margaret Allen, Sarah Hanan, Kathleen Tibbetts, Gary Shultz and Denise Gee.

The Circle of Excellence Awards is the Council for Advancement and Support of Education’s premier international awards program recognizing the work of CASE members. The awards acknowledge superior accomplishments that have lasting impact, demonstrate the highest level of professionalism and deliver exceptional results.

The Council for Advancement and Support of Education is a professional association serving educational institutions and the advancement professionals who work on their behalf in alumni relations, communications, development, marketing and allied areas.