Outstanding Recognition for Sound
Radio-Television-Film assistant professor of practice Korey Pereira took home a primetime Emmy in 2022 and was nominated again in 2023, both for sound editing for his work on the fourth season of “Stranger Things.” He also won a Motion Picture Sound Editors’ Golden Reel award for Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing for his work on the latest Predator movie, “Prey.”
Moody Team Wins Big at Sundance
A short film created by Radio-Television-Film alumna Kayla Galang and a team of six other Moody College graduates won the Short Film Grand Jury Prize at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. The 13-minute film, titled “When You Left Me On That Boulevard,” is loosely based on Galang’s childhood. The competition jury called it “an uproarious take on extended family, irreverence and tradition with incredible attunement to details and frame.” Galang worked on the film with Moody College alumni: producers Alifya Ali, Udoy Rahim and Samantha Skinner; director of photography Rajinee Buquing; editor Matt Stryker; and sound designer Will Kurzner.
Dan Jenkins Medals for Excellence
in Sportswriting
ESPN columnist Jeff Passan won the 2022 Jenkins Medal for Best Sportswriting for his article “San Francisco Giants Outfield Drew Robinson’s Remarkable Second Act,” which tells the story of major-leaguer Drew Robinson’s recovery from a suicide attempt. In addition, Sally Jenkins, Dan Jenkins’ daughter, won the Lifetime Achievement Award for her body of work that has led her to be a columnist for The Washington Post for 30 years. Finally, NFL Hall of Famer Charles “Mean Joe” Greene was honored with the 2022 Jenkins Medal Sports Legend Award.
Dan Rather Medals for News and Guts
In 2023, two reporting teams shared the professional prize. Brian van der Brug and Paige St. John of the Los Angeles Times won for a series of articles, “Legal Weed, Broken Promises.” Independent journalist Ian Urbina also won for his podcast series “The Outlaw Ocean Project,” which was produced as a partnership between the Los Angeles Times and the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. Indiana Daily Student reporter Evan Gerike won the collegiate prize for his story “The Program is Doomed: Players say Indiana Volleyball Coach Steve Aird Created a Culture of Fear.”
Staff Impact Award Winners
The Staff Impact Award recognizes staff members who go above and beyond their regular duties to make a significant impact at Moody.
» Alyssa Field, research associate in the Department
of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences
» Jennifer Porras, graduate coordinator for the Department of Communication Studies
» Chelsea Stockton, senior academic program manager for the School of Journalism and Media
» Beth Van Riper, human resources coordinator
Notable Grants
Keri Stephens and a team of UT Austin researchers received a $3.6 million grant from the National Science Foundation to support the creation of a robot delivery network on campus.
The Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas received a $4 million grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation that will support its online learning program, the annual International Symposium on Online Journalism and LatAm Journalism Review, a trilingual digital magazine with original reporting on the news industry and press freedom in Latin America and the Caribbean.
OUTSTANDING FACULTY ACHIEVEMENTS
Anne Lewis won the 2023 Moody College Creative Achievement Award for the film “Raul Salinas and the Poetry of Liberation: Un Trip.”
Anthony Dudo was invited by the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to serve as a member of the Board on Science Education’s Standing Committee on Advancing Science Communication.
Brad Love, Stephen Reese and Scott Stroud received Signature Course Distinguished Teaching Medals for their commitment to undergraduate studies programs.
Craig Scott was inducted as a 2023 International Communication Association Fellow for scholars who
have made distinguished contributions to the field of communication.
Diana Dawson received the 2022 Moody College Teaching Excellence Award.
Jennifer McClearen’s book “Fighting Visibility: Sports Media and Female Athletes in the UFC” won the 2022 Outstanding Book Award for the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport.
Karen Kocher was recognized as one of the Austin American-Statesman's “Extraordinary Women.” She also won the 2023 Texas Digital Library Excellence Award at the Texas Digital Library Awards for the Barton Springs Time Stream.
Lee Ann Kahlor was selected to receive a President's Association Teaching Excellence Award for the 2022-23 academic year.
Maya Henry received the 2023 UT Excellence in Research on Aging Award from the Texas Aging and Longevity Consortium.
Natalie Czimskey received the 2023 Dads’ Association Centennial Teaching Fellowship.
Octavio Kano-Galvan and two of his Texas Creative students won two 2023 American Advertising Awards — the Gold for Television Advertising Award and the Student Best of Show Advertising Award for Television Advertising for “Voices.”
Richard Lewis's screenplay “Bleeding Hearts” won the award for the Best Pilot Script at the 2022 Conference of the University Film and Video Association.
Stacey Sowards received the Outstanding Service-Learning Instructor Award at the 2023 UT Tower Awards.
Stephen Reese won the 2023 Ellen A. Wartella Distinguished Research Award for “Emerging Hybrid Networks of Verification, Accountability, and Institutional Resilience: The U.S Capitol Riot and The Work of Open-source.”
Stephen Reese and Tamara Bell were recognized in
the Alcalde’s 2023 Texas 10 as educators who inspired, supported and shaped their students’ futures far beyond the Forty Acres.
Wenhong Chen was selected to receive a President's Association Teaching Excellence Award for the 2022-23 academic year.
Ya’Ke Smith was named one of 12 new contributing columnists for The Dallas Morning News. He also won the Film Slam Audience Choice Award for Best Feature Film at the Cleveland International Film Festival and a Wilbur Award.
Winning Students
Communication and Leadership students Arjana Almaneih and Nikki Hammond and Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences audiology student Isabella “Bella” Candanosa won Texas Exes 2023 President’s Leadership Awards. Almaneih is a student leader at UT’s Multicultural Engagement Center and Division of Diversity and Community Engagement. Hammond is project leader at UT’s Microfarm and has been actively involved in campus sustainability initiatives. Candanosa created the Deaf Culture Alliance, which brings together deaf and hard-of-hearing students and students with a passion for American Sign Language and Deaf culture.
Moody College Outstanding Alumna
Moody College alumna Natasha Verma received the 2022 Outstanding Young Texas Exes Award, which recognizes alumni under 40 for their career and community achievements and service to UT Austin. Verma graduated with degrees in journalism and biology pre-med in 2012 when she was just 17 years old, making her the youngest graduate in the University’s history. Verma was working in TV news when she was diagnosed with cancer at 23. Through the Verma Foundation, she now distributes free wigs made from real human hair to cancer patients across the world.
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