Bellisario College of Communications

Alumni Society Board honors four

Three College of Communications graduates and one faculty member have been honored with awards from the college's Alumni Society Board.

The honorees are: Jeff Baum, Outstanding Alumni; Marv Krasnansky, Alumni Achievement; David Schaefer, Emerging Professional; and Richard Sherman, Excellence in Teaching.

JBaum, who earned his journalism degree in 1985, serves as vice president of global communications for Electronic Data Systems. He oversees communications and is chief spokesman for EDS, a Fortune 500 company that outsources information technology and business process services to clients around the world. The company's services benefit clients in fields such as manufacturing, financial services, health care, transportation, consumer and retail industries and even government.

The Outstanding Alumni Award recognizes demonstrated excellence in communications by distinguishing an alumnus or alumna who has contributed significantly to his or her profession and gained an exemplary reputation among colleagues and students within his or her community. Baum leads an organization of some 80 people, a dozen of whom report directly to him. They handle all of the company's global communications, crafting the overall public relations message, dealing with major national and international media and trade publications, implementing the company's presence online and serving as a resource for administrators at EDS itself.

Krasnansky, who earned his journalism degree in 1952, is a retired vice president of corporate communications at McKesson Corp., the world's largest health care company. Krasnansky also has worked at the Wall Street Journal and the New York Stock Exchange.

The Alumni Achievement Award honors an alumni, alumna or friend of the college whose significant contributions to the college and/or the University, in terms of time and talent, have brought distinction to themselves, the college and the University. A longtime supporter of the college as well as The Daily Collegian, Krasnansky was honored for his making his dream a reality and benefitted others as a result. He took an idea for a book and then shepherded an almost all-volunteer effort from start to finish to produce "The Collegian Chronicles: A History of Penn State from the Pages of The Daily Collegian, 1887-2006."

Schaefer, who earned his advertising/public relations degree in 1999, has been the manager of publicity and manager of talent relations for the Discovery Channel, as well as manager of communications for The Learning Channel.

The Emerging Professional Award honors an alumnus or alumna who has graduated in the past 10 years for professional achievements and/or distinguished community service. Schaefer's job has taken him all over the world and allowed him to work with everyone from supermodels to members of the Teutel family on the Discovery Network program "American Chopper." Thanks in part to Schaefer's work, the Discovery Channel will play host the college's mentoring event for the Washington, D.C., area on Nov. 14.

Sherman, who teaches intermediate and advanced film production courses in the college, earned his master of fine arts at Ohio University and his bachelor's degree at James Madison University.

The Excellence in Teaching Awards recognizes a faculty member in the college who has demonstrated excellence in teaching, contributed significantly to the growth of students' learning and gained an exemplary reputation among colleagues, students and alumni. Those honored are judged on their ability to inspire students and improve the classroom environment, their breadth and depth of knowledge of their subject and their dedication outside the classroom.

Sherman has professional cinematography experience, including three narrative feature films, two feature documentaries and more than 40 shorts. His work has appeared at national and international film festivals, aired on national television networks such as PBS and the History Channel, and been distributed online. He also earned the Deans' Excellence Award for Research and Creative Activity from the College of Communications in 2007.

The Alumni Society Board is a 27-member group of college alumni dedicated to connecting the College of Communications through events, awards and programs to its students and faculty.

Last Updated March 19, 2009

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