TPRA recognizes members and other PR professionals for their hard work and contributions to the public relations field with various Special Awards. The Special Awards is presented at the Silver Spur/Best of Texas Awards Banquet during the TPRA Annual Conference.
To submit a nomination, please review the criteria and eligibility requirements and complete the Special Award Nomination Form or send your nomination along with supporting information to Scott White at scottwhite@bizcompr.com.
Categories
Golden Spur Award
Outstanding PR Practioner Award
Alan Scott Rising Star Award
New Member Achievement
Lone Star Award
Silver Spur Media Award
PRFT Educator of the Year
Golden Spur Award
The Golden Spur is TPRA's highest recognition for member service. The recipient must make significant and long-lasting contributions to TPRA and to the public relations profession during at least 10 years of membership. The award is presented only in years when outstanding candidates are nominated and approved by the TPRA Board of Directors.
2009 Recipient
Dr. Dick Wells, University of North Texas
This year’s recipient has met all the Golden Spur Award requirements and more. As a professor at the University of North Texas for almost 30 years, he always considers his students first. He currently serves as a faculty advisory for the Public Relations Student Society of America and National Journalism Honor Society, Kappa Tau Alpha.
He has served as a faculty advisor to many journalism-related student organizations, including The North Texas Daily, Sigma Delta Chi, the Society of Professional Journalists, and the International Association of Business Communicators. He was also the founding sponsor of a National Association of Black Journalists chapter in the late 1980s.
He worked to bring a $2 million gift to the University of North Texas’ graduate journalism program from the Mayborn Foundation in 1999 which helped establish the Mayborn Graduate Institute of Journalism.
During his career, he has been honored by the national College Media Advisers as an outstanding adviser. And for his work as the president of the Navel Postgraduate School, the Secretary of the Navy awarded him the Legion of Merit. The Legion of Merit is defined as an award “to a member of the Armed Forces of the United States or a friendly foreign nation who distinguishes himself by exceptionally meritorious conduct in performing outstanding service.”
Students have previously honored him with the Fessor Graham Award and with Mortar Board’s Top Prof Award 5 times.
He has also been an important part of TPRA for the past two decades, serving as its president and helping students and professionals connect with our organization for almost two decades.
For the past ten years he has been a mediator in the Alternative Dispute Resolution Program.
And today, he is in Bosnia working with mid-level and upper-level Ministry of Defense and army leaders as the country prepares for a NATO-like event for this summer. Then he goes to Albania, where he’ll be doing sessions on public relations, understanding media, etc. focused on countering terrorism and criminal networks for the state intelligence agency, military intelligence, general staff, academics, media, and finance ministry.
View past recipients
Outstanding Texas PR Practitioner Award
This award winner must have made noteworthy career contributions to the public relations profession. Individual achievement and recognition, commitment to excellence and mentoring are also considered. The award is granted only in years when an outstanding nominee is confirmed by the board of directors. Recipients do not have to be TPRA members.
2009 Recipient
Liz Oliphant, Liz Oliphant & Associates
The Outstanding PR Practitioner recognizes an individual whose contributions have made a significant impact on the public relations profession.
Over the course of her career, Liz has used integrity and creativity to establish herself as one of Texas’ most successful and influential public relations professionals.
Among her many accomplishments:
- She has mentored and trained more than 60 college students from five area universities during her 30 years of self employment.
- She was the fifth recipient of the Dallas chapter of PRSA’s Norm Tech Award.
- In 1982, the convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Dallas elected her to be one of the 20 lay and clergy representatives to review and recommend candidates to become the new Bishop for the Diocese. At the time there was only one other woman on the committee.
- She was one of the six honorees to receive the Maura Award, presented by the Women’s Center of Dallas to recognize women whose volunteer efforts help girls and women.
- She has also earned two Matrix Awards from the Dallas Chapter of Women in Communications.
Liz began her career as an Assistant Editor for a TV/Preview magazine before starting an 11-year stint as Editor of a bimonthly employee newsletter and monthly magazine for State Farm Insurance Companies Regional Office. She then worked for Moore & Associates as Director of Publicity, Account Executive and finally Vice President before becoming an Account Executive with Sanders & Associates.
She now runs her own firm which was established more than 30 years ago. Her firm is considered to be one of the most highly respected, solo practitioner firms in the southwest.
Alan Scott Rising Star Award
The Rising Star Award recipient must be a member of TPRA for at least three years and have provided dedicated service to the organization during this time. In addition, the recipient must exhibit outstanding potential for achievement in the public relations profession and TPRA leadership.
2009 Recipient
Judy Oskam, associate professor and associate director for Round Rock Programs, School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Texas State University.
The Alan Scott Rising Star Award is named for one of TPRA’s founding members and is awarded to a PR professional who has been a TPRA member for at least three years, shows potential for outstanding accomplishments in public relations and demonstrates leadership potential for TPRA and the public relations profession.
That criterion perfectly describes Judy. She is a graduate of the University of North Texas with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Radio/TV/Film. She also has a Master of Science degree in Mass Communications and Doctorate in Higher Education Administration from Oklahoma State University.
She has worked in public affairs/outreach positions for Oklahoma State University, The University of Texas System and was a television journalist for stations in Oklahoma and Texas. Several of her videos and television segments received industry awards and recognition.
She was an associate professor in the College of Mass Communications at Texas Tech University.
Currently she is an Associate Professor and Associate Director for Round Rock Programs at the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Texas State University where she enjoys integrating media technology into her classroom and producing various media topics for her students. She also was instrumental in organizing last fall’s highly successful TPRA workshop.
Dr. Oskam also serves as the 2008-2009 President of the Southwest Education Council for Journalism and Mass Communication. SWECJMC represents faculty and programs in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Arizona, Louisiana, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah.
New Member Achievement
The New Member Achievement Award recognizes service to TPRA and the Public Relations Foundation of Texas.
2009 Recipient
Gavino Ramos, vice-president, communications, Time Warner Cable
TPRA’s New Member Achievement Award recognizes a TPRA professional who has been a member for one to three years and has made significant contributions to the TPRA during that time.
Gavino has certainly made an impact on our organization. He has an outstanding record of professional accomplishments and service to fellow public relations practitioners.
A graduate of the University of Texas, San Antonio, and Trinity University, he has served on the Board of Directors for The San Antonio Food Bank, as well as the National Conference for Community and Justice.
He was also recognized by the San Antonio Business Journal as a “Rising Star, 40 Under 40”.
Last year he was co-chair of the TPRA Annual Conference in San Antonio. Today he serves as Vice President of Communications for Time Warner Cable.
Lone Star Award
The Lone Star Award recognizes a company that places a high priority on its public relations and values both the function as a key management strategy and the public relations practitioners it employs as major contributors to the success of the organization. The company must exemplify outstanding ethics and operations in its dealing with all its constituencies. Creativity in how these relationships are developed can be a plus in consideration for this award. A Lone Star Award winner should also be a supporter of the profession of public relations in Texas and development of its public relations professionals, as well as others in the state.
2009 Recipient
The Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys is perhaps the nation’s most iconic professional football team. Love them or hate them -- and there doesn’t seem to be any in between -- anyone who lives in North Texas cannot deny that the Dallas Cowboys are a dynamic example of how to use PR to build a brand.
And it’s not just all on the field. They place great emphasis on community relations programs - partnering with numerous organizations both on the local and national level. Just a few of those partnerships include:
- Sponsoring the annual Susan G. Komen Dallas Race for the Cure
- Teaming with the American Heart Association to launch a concentrated effort to combat childhood obesity, in the WHAT MOVES U campaign
- Partnering with the U.S. Army to honor Dallas/Fort Worth area high school football coaches with the High School Coach of the Week program
- Hosting annual Dallas Cowboys Coaches Clinics at Texas Stadium and facilitating a grass roots football clinic for elementary age boys and girls.
And for the past 11 years the Dallas Cowboys Thanksgiving Day game halftime show has officially launched the Salvation Army’s Red Kettle Christmas Campaign on a national stage, which has become annual holiday tradition. Since the partnership began in 1997, the annual Red Kettle campaign has raised more than $1 billion, which has helped the Army to serve 30 million people each year nationwide. Last year, the campaign raised a record $118 million.
From a brand building standpoint, there are few companies who have done such an impressive job over the years of keeping their customers engaged -- through good times and bad -- as the Cowboys. All you have to do is look at souvenir sales around the country or the TV ratings whenever the Cowboys play to understand what I’m talking about. This company truely understands the power of PR and they know how to use it.
Silver Spur Media Award
The Silver Spur Media Award recognizes contributions by a print or broadcast reporter/photographer/editor/producer or a print or broadcast outlet to a public affairs, public education or community relations program that benefitted the community and was also supported by professional public relations efforts. This award was given first in 1999.
2009 Recipient
Cheryl Hall, Dallas Morning News
Cheryl Hall has had a tremendous impact on the Greater Dallas-area community for almost as long as anyone can remember. She began making her mark on the local news landscape in 1972 as a summer intern in the business news department of The Dallas Morning News. She never left.
This talented and well-respected business columnist has a way of bringing out the human side of a business story. Her columns are informative and enlightening. She’s interviewed some of the most interesting business leaders to heads of our nation, always discovering a unique angle to intrigue readers.
She shares that her greatest challenge to covering business in North Texas is: “knowing all the hidden connections among the key players.” Reflecting on her extraordinary track record of exceptional columns, looks like she has a handle on that challenge.
View past recipients
PRFT Educator of the Year
The Silver Spur Media Award recognizes contributions by a print or broadcast reporter/photographer/editor/producer or a print or broadcast outlet to a public affairs, public education or community relations program that benefitted the community and was also supported by professional public relations efforts. This award was given first in 1999.
2009 Recipient
Not Awarded
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