And the award goes to …

The inaugural Journalism Hall of Fame inductees were (left to right): John Seigenthaler; Chris Clark; Karen Miller, accepting for her late husband, Dan Miller; Dean Stone; Bill Williams; and Anne Holt. Photo by Andy Heit.

The College of Mass Communication honored students, distinguished alumni and journalists in its once-a-year day of celebration on April 28, 2013.

Ceremonies included the annual Wall of Fame induction and the 20th annual Student Awards. More than 75 undergraduate and graduate students were recognized and more than $36,000 in scholarships were awarded, all of it given through private donors to the College. The College also celebrated the induction of the inaugural class of the Journalism Hall of Fame and several students were inducted into the prestigious Kappa Tau Alpha (KTA) honor society for journalism.

The College introduced its inaugural class of the Journalism Hall of Fame, which was unveiled in October 2012:

• Chris Clark, retired chief news anchor for WTVF-TV NewsChannel 5 in Nashville.
• Anne Holt, a 30-year veteran and three-time Emmy Award winner at WKRN-TV News 2 in Nashville.
• The late Dan Miller, the longtime chief news anchor at Nashville’s WSMV-TV Channel 4.
• John Seigenthaler, chairman emeritus of The Tennessean in Nashville and founder of MTSU’s Seigenthaler Chair of Excellence in First Amendment Studies.
• Dean Stone, editor of The Daily Times in Maryville as well as a featured columnist.
• William Bryant “Bill” Williams Jr., a third-generation community newspaper publisher, who is publisher emeritus of the Paris (Tenn.) Post-Intelligencer.

Newest Mass Comm Hall of Famers

Congratulations to Mass Comm’s newest additions to the Hall of Fame. Mikki Rose (EMC ’05) is with Sony Imageworks. Her film credits for Sony include “Arthur Christmas” and “Hotel Transylvania.” Previously, she was technical director at Rhythm & Hues Studios in Los Angeles, where she worked on six films, including “Alvin and the Chipmunks” and the Academy Award-winning “The Golden Compass.” Luke Laird (RI ’01) is a songwriter and co-owner of Nashville publishing company Creative Nation. Laird’s songs have been recorded by many country music artists, including Lee Ann Womack, Carrie Underwood, Blake Shelton, Eric Church and Miranda Lambert. He has more than 700 compositions to his credit. Carrie Dierks (JOUR ’99) is vice president of B2B operations for True North Custom Media in Chattanooga. Dierks has worked in the areas of sports publishing, marketing and media design. The Center for Popular Music’s Dale and Lucinda Cockrell were named “Friends of the College.” TLE