Matthew J. Haught, PhD, received the D. Mike Pennington Award for Outstanding Student Mentoring at its University of Memphis Journalism and Strategic Media Alumni Club awards dinner on Oct 13.
The award, given to a Journalism and Strategic Media faculty member who has been an exemplary guide and mentor to students, is named in memory of Mike Pennington, who earned his bachelor’s degree at the UofM in 1972. Pennington had a distinguished career as a business magazine journalist and corporate communicator, serving primarily in the trucking and its affiliated industries, where he mentored several colleagues.
Since joining the University of Memphis as assistant professor in 2013, Haught has taught visual journalism courses, advised 40 students each semester, and coordinated the internship program for the department. Haught earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Marshall University and a PhD from the University of South Carolina.
Others awards presented include: Outstanding Young Alumna Award - Megan Harris (BA ’11), editor at 90.5 WESA, Pittsburgh’s NPR station; Charles E. Thornton Award - Frank Thorsberg (BA ’78), data recovery specialist with DriveSavers Data Recovery, and Elise Mitchell (MA ’92), CEO of Mitchell Communications Group; Herbert Lee Williams Award - David Arant, PhD, chair of the UofM Department of Journalism and Strategic Media; and Emerging Journalist Award - Jonathan Capriel, UofM student and editor-in-chief of The Daily Helmsman.
The Charles E. Thornton Award is named in honor of a former Memphis journalist who was killed while on assignment in Afghanistan in 1985. The Herbert L. Williams Award is named for the Department of Journalism’s founding chair.
