News 2006-2007
Advertising professor receives industry's highest honor
School of Mass Communications associate professor Dan Bagley III received the promotional
products business’ highest honor by being inducted into the Promotional Hall
of Fame at the Promotional Products Association International’s Expo in Las
Vegas, Nev., an event attended by over 25,000 industry professionals.
“When I left my family’s promotional products business in Lakeland to
earn a Ph.D. and become a professor, I never expected that 33 years later I would
find myself in this position,” said Bagley. “In the 31 years that I
have been writing articles and books, presenting educational seminars, and advising
promotional people, I have watched the promotional products business grow into an
$18 billion industry.”
Promotional products cover such areas as imprinted items, incentive gifts, motivational
communication, business gifts and premiums. Bagley’s particular focus within
the industry has been sales effectiveness, promotional strategies and professionalism.
In that role he created the industry’s first audio sales training program,
its first video sales training, and more than 20 books and monographs for the industry
including the text used by industry members to study and attain Certified Advertising
Specialists and Master Advertising Specialist professional designations. He is one
of the earliest academic researchers to explore the marketing power of promotional
products.
Bagley is the 64th person (and the second academic) to be inducted into the Hall
of Fame in the 100-plus-year history of the industry. Bagley has taught in the advertising
sequence of the USF School of Mass Communications since 1979.
Denise and Jordan Zimmerman family foundation gives $1 million for School of Mass
Communications advertising program
Advertising powerhouse Jordan Zimmerman, a graduate of the University of South Florida
and founder and chairman of the largest advertising agency in the southeastern United
States, and his wife Denise, have presented USF with a gift of $1 million. The endowed
fund will enable the university to secure an additional $750,000 match from the
State of Florida.
This gift, the largest donation in the history of the mass communications program
at USF, will support the Zimmerman Advertising Program (ZAP) in the School of Mass
Communications. ZAP consists of cutting edge undergraduate classes in advertising
and marketing presented in a distinctive framework that is shaping the future of
advertising education.
As part of the program, Zimmerman and members of his executive team from Zimmerman
Advertising fly in from Ft. Lauderdale every Friday to teach students and share
their real-life experiences in the world of advertising.
"This unique approach reflects Jordan Zimmerman’s creative, energetic,
innovative thinking and his leadership in advertising,” said USF president
Judy Genshaft. “Just as he has set a new mark in the field of advertising,
so will the Zimmerman Advertising Program set a new standard in education.”
In the first course, last year, students made account-winning presentations to the
founder of Papa John’s Pizza, John Schnatter, whose company served as their
semester-long case study. In the second offering last semester, competition
among the students resulted in one winning a brand new car for her work in a course
that studied advertising and marketing in the car industry. Some students have gone
on to work for Zimmerman.
“We’re being given a wonderful opportunity to build in an important
area of Mass Communications,” said College of Arts and Sciences dean John
Skvoretz. “It’s an area that is already quite strong here at USF and
this gift serves to make it even stronger.”
A $200,000 gift from Zimmerman established ZAP last fall. Zimmerman’s very
first gift to USF was $20,000 to finish the $100,000 Endowed Advertising Scholarship
Fund. It, like his $1 million gift, was also eligible for matching state funds.
Zimmerman’s total giving, including the state matches, totals $1,980,000.
“As a result of Jordan Zimmerman's past generosity, USF advertising students
have access to many new elective courses in their field and to world-class experiences
that are preparing them for key positions in the advertising profession,”
noted Edward Jay Friedlander, director of the School of Mass Communications. “The
new gift will further enhance the experience for students. To put it simply, Jordan
Zimmerman has made a gift to USF that eventually will transform the nature of advertising
education in the United States.”
Zimmerman Advertising, an Omnicom Group Company, based in Fort Lauderdale, currently
ranks as the 17th largest advertising agency in the United States, with just under
$2 billion in billings, more than 860 full-time associates and 22 offices throughout
the country. Some of Zimmerman’s clients include Nissan, Papa John’s
Pizza, the Miami Dolphins, S & K Menswear and Office Depot.
School of Mass Communications names Tampa Tribune publisher as 2007 Clendinen Professor
The University of South Florida School of Mass Communications has named Gil Thelen,
retired publisher and president of the Tampa Tribune, as the eighth James A. Clendinen
Professor in Editorial and Critical Writing. His term begins January 2007.
The Clendinen Professor teaches a mass communications class in editorial and commentary
writing and lectures at USF on a topic related to editorials and commentaries, according
to Edward Jay Friedlander, director of the School of Mass Communications. Thelen's
course will be offered during the 2007 spring term.
The Duke University graduate, who also did postgraduate work at Cornell University,
was a Washington correspondent for the Associated Press, Consumer Reports magazine
and the Chicago Daily News between 1966 and 1978. From 1978 to 1987, he held a number
of assistant editor positions at The Charlotte Observer ending as assistant managing
editor for news.
Thelen worked for The Sun News in Myrtle Beach, S.C. from 1987 to 1990, where he
served as editor and executive vice president. The Sun News earned the distinction
of being named one of the top ten examples of excellence among small newspapers.
Thelen came to the Tribune from The State newspaper in Columbia, S.C. where from
1990 to 1997 he was executive editor and vice president. In 1996 The State was recognized
for its content and presentation and chosen one of the three best American, midsized
papers by the Society of Newspaper Design. He was appointed executive editor of
the Tribune in 1998 and became publisher in 2003. He retired June 30. During
that time the Tribune has emerged as a national leader in multimedia journalism.
“We are thrilled to have access to Gil Thelen’s tremendous knowledge
of and experience in the newspaper business,” said Friedlander. “In
addition, he brings the perspective of a seasoned professional who has helped launch
the multimedia explosion we’re living through at the moment.”
“I have taught at a number of colleges and universities already, so I’m
quite at home on a university campus and in the classroom,” said Thelen. “I’m
gratified to have been invited to be next year’s Clendinen professor. The
professorship honors a man who created and led one of the most influential editorial
pages in the United States. He was renowned for his sound judgment and good writing.”
Thelen is an active member of the American Society of Newspaper Editors where he
was a member of the ASNE Credibility Project and he has been chairman of the organization’s
Education, Change, Interactive Media and Leadership committees. He has been a participant
in the Journalism Values Institute and has served on the Pulitzer Prize jury.
The Clendinen Professor is chosen each year by the School of Mass Communications
and the Tampa Tribune. The guest faculty position honors James Clendinen, who served
for half a century as a Tribune editor and chairman of the editorial board. After
he died in 1991, Clendinen's friends, family and employer endowed a professorship
in his name at USF.