Many UW–Madison graduates who earn a degree in Communication Arts go on to accomplish incredible things. 2025 marks the second time our department will honor some of our most outstanding alumni with Distinguished Alumni Awards. These awards recognize the accomplishments of alumni who have made major contributions to the public good, developed successful careers soon after graduating, shared their ideas and time with the department so our program continuously grows stronger, and built cutting-edge research programs at other campuses and institutions. Each of the 2025 award recipients is an outstanding example of what is possible with a degree in Communication Arts, and we are thrilled to honor them this year.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Career Impact Award Winner – Neil Willenson
This award recognizes the distinguished achievements of alumni who have realized the departmental vision of making a difference in the world through effective communication. With decades of experience in public service, Neil Willenson embodies this award.
Willenson is the President & CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metro Milwaukee. He is a nationally known non-profit founder, corporate executive, public speaker, and actor. As the Founder of Camp Heartland (now called One Heartland), Willenson led a national non-profit organization that made a year-round and life-long difference for children impacted by HIV/AIDS. During his time leading the organization, the organization raised 45 million dollars and provided hope and healing to 6,000 children. He is also Co-Founder of Camp Hometown Heroes, a national summer camp for children of fallen U.S. service members as well as Co-Founder of Camp Reunite, a groundbreaking program for children who have an incarcerated parent.
“While I am deeply grateful to be honored as the Career Impact Award recipient, I accept on behalf of entire communities as in all of the non-profit projects for which I have been involved, thousands of generous people worked alongside me in every regard,” Wellington said in response to this award. “As I pursued my degree in Radio, Television & Film at UW’s Department of Communication Arts years ago, I gained skills and real-world experience in a number of areas that have helped me communicate to audiences large and small the value of non-profit endeavors and the ability for each of us to utilize our gifts to help others. Mass communications can make a profound impact in helping those facing hardships and fostering societal change.”
Early Career Award Winner – Rodney Lambright II
This award recognizes and encourages the beneficial endeavors of younger alumni—typically within 10-12 years of graduation—who are developing successful careers that also promise to make a difference in the community at large.
Rodney Lambright II is a creative thinker, animator, and illustrator who is from Waukegan, IL, and is based in Atlanta, GA. He is working in mediums spanning across design, animation, video games, comics, MR/AR/VR, and other new technologies. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a BS in Art and Communication Arts (TV/Radio/Film) in 2017. He has eight years of experience in the design and animation industry, in the commercial and non-profit settings, working on projects with clients ranging from Airbnb, Meta, PBS, and Google, to name a few. During the day, he works as a Senior Designer at BUCK Design and by night as a freelance artist working on client and personal projects.
Lambright’s artistic style is influenced by those who express a cinematic approach infused with conceptual complexities, like Christopher Nolan, Satoshi Kon, and Hayao Miyazaki. His artistic purpose lies in exploring the subconscious and psychologically mystical aspects of the human experience that facilitate honesty and connection.
Service Impact Award Winner – Vance Kepley
This award recognizes the contributions of alumni whose generosity and commitment have transformed the Communication Arts department.
Vance I. Kepley is an Emeritus Professor of Film in the Department of Communication Arts. He served on the department faculty for 36 years before retiring in May 2017. Over the course of his UW career, he taught a variety of courses related to film history and conducted research focused on film and social history with special interest in Russian/Soviet cinema and documentary film. He held several Departmental offices including Department Chair, Associate Chair, and director of the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research. He is also a Communication Arts alumnus, earning his MA (1976) and PhD (1978) from the department.
“This award from Communication Arts is an honor that will be forever appreciated by both my wife, Betty, and me since it carries the endorsement of our many valued friends on the department’s faculty and staff. I’ve benefited immeasurably from a Communication Arts affiliation that dates all the way back to graduate school a half-century ago. Continuing to support the department and its students in my retirement now is an easy call, especially since it can be done through Communication Arts Partners (CAPs), the very best alumni board on campus,” Kepley said.
Research Impact Award Winner – Kathleen Hall Jamieson
This award recognizes the achievements of alumni researchers who have made unique, significant, and transformative contributions to the study of communication.
Kathleen Hall Jamieson is the Elizabeth Ware Packard Professor of Communication at the Annenberg School for Communication of the University of Pennsylvania and director of its Annenberg Public Policy Center. Jamieson co-founded FactCheck.org and its science-focused initiative, SciCheck. The 2020 recipient of the National Academy of Sciences’ Public Welfare Medal, Jamieson is a member of the Board of Directors of the American Association for the Advancement of Science; a Distinguished Scholar of the National Communication Association; and a member or fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, the American Academy of Political and Social Science, and the International Communication Association.
Jamieson sends her congratulations to the 2025 graduates of the Communication Arts Department, and thanks the entire Communication Arts community for this honor and important moment in her life.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
These four distinguished alumni were honored at our Graduation Ceremony on May 8, 2025, along with the undergrad and graduate students completing their degrees. We hope our graduates feel inspired by the many accomplishments of our alumni as they kickstart their own exciting careers. We are eager to recognize their own achievements in the near future.