The UCF Nicholson School of Communication (NSC) Alumni Chapter has announced the 2010 Hall of Fame recipients. Chris Gent, a 1987 UCF NSC graduate and current Kissimmee Utilities Authority vice president of communication, was named the 2010 inductee. Burt Pryor, director of the NSC graduate studies program, and Roy Reid, APR, partner of Consensus Communication are honorary inductees.<\/p>\n
The official induction ceremony will take place on Tues., April 6 at the UCF FAIRWINDS Alumni Center at 6 p.m.<\/p>\n
The Hall of Fame award is given to recognize alumni for major career accomplishments and contributions to the school. Inductees include professionals from all communication majors within the NSC \u2013 advertising\/public relations, interpersonal\/organizational communication, journalism, and radio\/television.<\/p>\n
As a UCF alumnus who holds his Bachelor of Arts in Communication, Gent has gone on to make his mark in the public relations industry. Chris Gent serves as vice president of corporate communications for Kissimmee Utility Authority, Florida’s sixth largest municipally\u2010owned utility. He is responsible for internal and external corporate communications, including marketing and advertising, media and public relations, employee communications, special events and corporate philanthropy. Gent is chief media spokesman for the utility and serves as advisor to the CEO and utility management team on communication issues.<\/p>\n
Gent has maintained a strong connection to his alma mater. Among the activities he has been a prominent leader of the Florida Public Relations Association and provided countless support of its UCF student chapter, Quotes. He served on the Roast & Toast scholarship committee, guest lectured in classes and served on professional panels, provided sponsorship funds to support student-driven events, and has been an active member of the UCF Alumni Association.<\/p>\n
The honorary inductees, Pryor and Reid, have also made a significant contribution to the field and the school, but did not graduate from UCF and\/or the NSC. Pryor joined the university in 1972 when it was Florida Technical University. In 1987, Pryor took over the graduate program. At the time, we had just 35 students. In 2000, he instituted two tracks \u2010 Mass Communication and Interpersonal Communication to replace a general Communication degree. By fall 2010, the enrollment is expected to rise to nearly 90 graduate students. He has received nine teaching awards, including four College Excellence in Teaching, four Teaching Incentive Programs, and was named University Teacher of the Year for 1990. Pryor\u2019s research has regularly appeared in top journals such as Communication Monographs, Human Communication Research, Journal of Communication, Communication Quarterly, and Cognitive Therapy & Research.<\/p>\n
Pryor has mentored and advised thousands of students. He has chaired more than 100 master\u2019s theses, taught countless students, and written letters of recommendation for careers and graduate school. Pryor announced his retirement in February and will conduct his final class in late April.<\/p>\n
Reid is a leading authority on trust and its impact on developing, cultivating, repairing, restoring and managing productive and profitable relationships. He is a partner for Consensus Communications and works with business leaders and organizations as a counselor, strategist and coach to grow, maintain and protect their interests.<\/p>\n
Reid is an award-winning strategic business and public relations expert. He is a sought after public speaker on numerous business topics including trust, issues management, crisis communications, ethics, change, and other related topics. He is the creator\/author of Outrageous Trust™ a program designed to work with leaders and within organizations to achieve better business outcomes through improving relationships.<\/p>\n
Reid\u2019s passion for teaching and mentoring is evident in the time he spends working with interns, and speaking to students throughout Florida. He earned a degree in Business Administration with a minor in Communication from UCF, where he also served as Student Body President. Within the NSC, he guest lectures to PR classes, serves on professional panels, sponsors student-driven events, provides internships on a regular basis, and mentors countless students and entry-level professional on planning their careers.<\/p>\n
The 2010 Alumni Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place at the FAIRWINDS Alumni Center located on the main campus on Tues., April 6 from 6-8 p.m. To RSVP, contact 407-UCF-ALUM or nsoc@ucfalumni.com<\/p>\n
For more info on past inductees visit: http:\/\/communication.cos.ucf.edu\/content\/news\/index.html<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The UCF Nicholson School of Communication (NSC) Alumni Chapter has announced the 2010 Hall of Fame recipients. Chris Gent, a 1987 UCF NSC graduate and current Kissimmee Utilities Authority vice president of communication, was named the 2010 inductee. Burt Pryor, director of the NSC graduate studies program, and Roy Reid, APR, partner of Consensus Communication are honorary inductees. The official…","protected":false},"author":47,"featured_media":11413,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-twocol.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"lazy_load_responsive_images_disabled":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[982,3393,202],"tu_author":[],"class_list":["post-11404","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","tag-college-of-sciences","tag-nicholson-school-of-communication-and-media","tag-alumni"],"yoast_head":"\n