The deadline to nominate outstanding alumni for the 2026 Alumni Awards is Sunday, Nov. 30.  

Four awards are presented each year to successful alumni who have made significant contributions to their professions since leaving UGA.

The John Holliman Jr. Lifetime Achievement Award honors sustained contributions to the profession throughout a career.

The Professional Excellence Award honors a graduate who has been influential in their field.

The John E. Drewry Young Alumni Award recognizes a graduate of the last decade who has experienced a successful early career.

The Distinguished Scholar Award honors a graduate for excellence and sustained contributions to scholarship in journalism and mass communication education.

The 2026 Alumni Award winners will be honored at Salutes: A celebration of Achievement, Commitment and Leadership on Friday, March 27 on campus. 

When Mark Johnson started teaching photojournalism classes in the fall of 2005, he wanted to provide his students opportunities to view different perspectives through the lens. He also wanted to give them different voices to listen to and learn from, so he reached out to industry friends and colleagues to help serve as mentors.

The result was the creation of weekend photojournalism workshops where Johnson’s advanced photojournalism students travel one weekend each semester with a group of industry professionals who provide constructive critiques and guidance for each student to hone their own visual voice.

The most recent group of students to experience the Fall Weekend Workshop traveled the Georgia National Fair last month. 

Fall 2025 NMIXpo, a day packed with impressive student projects, networking and celebrations, is just around the corner. NMIXpo brings all of the NMI's end-of-semester events together for a day that explores the future of tech and innovation.

The day will center on the remarkable achievements of our students. Emerging Media Capstone students will debut their beta projects at miniMerge and our Fall 2025 New Media students will showcase their capstone projects at SLAM.

The day will wrap with the NMI’s Silver Jubilee, marking 25 years of making it work. This Silver Jubilee isn’t just a milestone – it’s a tribute to the people, projects, and pure drive that have shaped the NMI into what it is today: an ever-evolving ecosystem of creators, coders, storytellers and doers. We’re throwing a party to celebrate with everyone who’s helped us make things work – and then work better – for more than two decades.

UGA started First Year Odyssey seminars in 2011 as an opportunity to introduce first-year students to smaller class sizes of 15 to 18 students. This provides for an opportunity to get to know faculty on a more individual basis and introduce them to the culture of the university. 

Grady faculty quickly embraced the program as a way to share their research and interests with students. Seminars range from courses about how science is portrayed in mass media and working with virtual reality, to an overview of film festivals or how Shonda Rhimes television shows relate to everyday life. Dean Charles Davis (MA '92) teaches an FYO called “Great First Amendment Debates: The Legacy of Freedom of Expression,” focusing on his research expertise as a First Amendment scholar.

UGA Family Weekend Open House

Nov. 7

Prospective Student Day

Nov. 17

NMIXpo

Dec. 5

Keep your email and mailing addresses on file with us so you never miss an update.

Your gift removes obstacles for students and helps prepare them to make their mark on the world.