Three
alumni receive awards for excellence
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Three graduates of the School of Journalism and Mass Communications
were honored Thursday, Sept. 27, at the School's 2007 Distinguished
Alumni Dinner held at the Summit Club in downtown
Columbia.
Honored as the Distinguished Alumnus was Jack Claypoole.
Ainsley Earhardt McKinney was named the Outstanding Young
Alumna and Bud Tibshrany received the inaugural Alumni Service
Award.
About the awards
The Distinguished Alumni Award is for graduates who have
been out of school for more than 10 years and whose careers
represent significant professional achievement. The Outstanding
Young Alumni Award is for graduates who have been out of
school 10 years or less but who have already demonstrated
significant professional accomplishments early in their careers.
The Alumni Service award is for graduates of the school who
have shown exemplary service to the program or profession.
Alumni selected for the awards are nominated by faculty
or alumni of the School. A two-thirds vote of the faculty
is required for a nominee to be named an award recipient.
About the honorees
Jack Claypoole
 Jack Claypoole is Administrator of the Drug
Free Communities program in the Office of National Drug Control
Policies. In January of 2007, he was appointed to direct
ONDCP’s Major Cities and Critical Areas Initiative
in addition to leading DFC.
With the philosophy that local problems need
local solutions, the DFC program is designed to mobilize
and strengthen community-based efforts to reduce youth substance
use.
Prior to his appointment, Claypoole was a
former DFC grantee and served as President and Chief Executive
Officer of LRADAC, The Behavioral Health Center of the Midlands
in Columbia, South Carolina. With nearly 20 years of experience
in the alcohol, tobacco and other drug prevention, Claypoole
helped LRADAC win national recognition from organizations
such as Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA)
and the United States Department of Justice for the way the
agency partners with community organizations to combat the
disease of addiction and reduce youth drug use.
A 1987 graduate
of the University of South Carolina College of Mass Communications
and Information Studies, Claypoole is currently pursuing
an Executive Masters in Leadership from the McDonough School
of Business at Georgetown University in Washington.
Ainsley Earhardt McKinney
 Ainsley
Earhardt McKinney is a correspondent for FOX News Channel.
She joined the network in 2007 and provides live news cut-ins
during the overnight hours.
Before joining FOX, Earhardt McKinney served
as a morning/ noon anchor for CBS affiliate, KENS-5 in San
Antonio, Texas. She also was a morning/noon anchor
for WLTX- News 19 in Columbia, South Carolina. In 2004, while
at WLTX- News 19, viewers voted her “Best Personality
of the Year” in the Columbia Metropolitan Magazine.
Earhardt McKinney is a South Carolina native
and a 1999 graduate of the University of South Carolina where
she received a degree in journalism. She now resides in New
York.
Bud M. Tibshrany
 Bud M. Tibshrany retired in 2007 as Vice President
for Public Affairs of Time Warner Cable in Columbia. Tibshrany’s
43-year career in the cable industry began with the former
Cosmos Cablevision, based in Columbia in 1964. Throughout
his career, he managed cable systems in South Carolina, Florida,
North Carolina and Tennessee.
He is an active member of the Columbia community,
serving on the boards of more than 10 societies and philanthropic
organizations, including the Partnership Board of the School
of Journalism and Mass Communications.
Tibshrany is a former president of the South
Carolina Cable Television Association and the first person
in South Carolina to be inducted into the national organization
of Cable TV Pioneers. |
