Four named to Alumni of Distinction list
(February 21, 2005) The college will recognize four individuals as alumni/ae of distinction at the college commencement ceremony on April 30, Dean Terry Hynes announced today. The four are:
Ben Cason, JM 1965
Ben Cason, a 1965 University
of Florida graduate, spent most of his career at metro dailies: The
St. Petersburg Times and The Washington Post. His strong interest in local
journalism eventually led him to suburban dailies and community newspapers.
After about three years at The Times, including the final year as News Editor, Ben was recruited by The Washington Post to join its staff. He joined the national desk as an assistant editor and later became News Editor of the new Style section.
A few years after that, Ben moved to the main news desk at The Post and became News Editor in 1972, then Assistant Manager Editor/Night, working directly for the Executive Editor, Ben Bradlee. Ben was The Post's News Editor in the Watergate era and produced many of the front pages during that two-year period, which ended with the resignation of Richard Nixon in 1974. After serving as the top editor in the night news operation for several years, in 1979 Ben was asked by Bradlee to become Assistant Manager Editor/New Projects, with the idea to create more daily magazine-type sections in The Post and to serve as newsroom liaison with the business side of the newspaper. He had a primary role in the conception, planning and development of several of the once-a-week sections that remain a part of The Post today. Ben was the first of three University of Florida graduates to become Assistant Managing Editors at The Washington Post in the 1970s. The others were George Solomon and Karen DeYoung.
After a brief stint as a managing editor at United Press International
in 1987, Ben became Executive Editor of the Journal Newspapers, suburban
D.C. dailies published at the time in Maryland and Northern Virginia.
After the family-owned Journals were sold to Gannett, he was asked
by owner Nick Arundel to become Executive Editor of his Loudoun and
Fairfax Times Community Newspapers. During his time there, Ben worked
with Peter Arundel to create several new Fairfax editions for the Times
group.
Ben joined central Ohio-based ThisWeek Commmunity Newspapers in 1993 as
Executive Editor. The 21-newspaper group is affiliated with The
Columbus Dispatch. ThisWeek has won numerous journalism awards from Suburban Newspapers
of America. Twice in the past decade, ThisWeek won more national SNA awards
than any other community newspaper group. Ben also won a first-place SNA
award for editorial writing.
Ben and Carol Colvard Cason, who met at The St. Petersburg Times, live in Dublin. They have two sons, David and Alexander.
Carolyn Gosselin, PUR
1980, MAMC 1983
Gosselin is senior vice president/chief communications officer for
CNL Financial Group, Inc. in Orlando, a privately-held real estate
investment and financial services company. Gosselin establishes and
manages the company's strategic communications initiatives. Gosselin
was with CNL in the late 1980s and then became first vice president
and manager, corporate communications, for SunTrust Banks, Inc. in
Atlanta before returning to CNL in 2003. She also was associate director of public
relations at Universal Studios in 1988 and general manager at Y&R/CMF&Z,
Orlando, from 1983-87.
Deb Richard, ADV 1989
Richard has been a professional golfer with the LPGA Tour since 1985.
She has won LPGA Tour victories in the Friendly's Classic (1997),
the SAFECO Classic (1994), the Women's Kemper Open (1991), and the
Rochester International (1987). She was the 1985 Low Amateur Qualifier
in the Nabisco Dinah Shore competition and a runner-up in the 1985
NCAA championship. She was U. S. Amateur Champion in 1984 and Low
Individual Honors recipient in the 1984 World Cup Championship. She
founded the Deb Richard Foundation in 1985 to provide college scholarships
to persons with disabilities. She received the Kids Good Sports Award from
Sports Illustrated and the Samaritan Award, both in 1996.
She received a 1994 Founder's Cup Award from Golf Digest.
She was recognized as a Top 50 UF Athlete of the Century and was honored
as a UF Distinguished Alumna in December 2004.
Eric Wishnie, TEL 1984
Eric Wishnie is a senior producer for NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams.
Prior to that he held the same position for NBC Nightly News with Tom
Brokaw. Most recently he traveled with Williams to produce election
coverage in Iraq and post-tsunami coverage in Indonesia.
Earlier, he produced Brokaw's trips to Iraq, Kuwait, Jordan, Israel and Russia -- producing the first North American interview with President Putin. Along with Brokaw, he has produced profiles of dozens of newsmakers including the last four Presidents of the United States. He has profiled families all over the world affected by war and peace -- highlighted by scores of stories of the unknown heroes of World War II.
He produced Brokaw's coverage of the Olympic Games in Athens, Salt Lake City, Sydney and Atlanta.
He was awarded the Edward R. Murrow Award for Best Newscast for his involvement with the Nov. 8, 2000 broadcast the day after the disputed presidential election. In 1999, he won a national Emmy Award and an Overseas Press Club Award for his work on the crisis in Kosovo. Prior to moving to New York, he was based in the NBC News Chicago bureau, where he received a national Emmy Award for coverage of the great Midwest floods of 1993.
Over his career he has been nominated for eight National Emmy awards.
He lives in New York City with his wife, Dawn Fratangelo, and their fox
terrier, Lincoln.
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