Zoo Atlanta Celebrates 120 Years

It’s been 120 years since the circus came to town – and never left.

Zoo Atlanta celebrated its 120th birthday on March 28, 2009, recalling the date
when one visionary entrepreneur backed the beginnings of one of
Georgia’s most beloved attractions.

In March 1889, a traveling circus – Colonel G.W. Hall’s Railroad Show
Bingley’s Monster European Menagerie, by name – went bankrupt just
south of Atlanta. Disgruntled circus employees deserted the show, leaving
a ragtag collection of caged wildlife behind. The homeless motley crew,
which included a jaguar, a hyena, a black bear, a raccoon and several
lionesses, pumas, camels and snakes, had already drawn scores of
curious Victorian gawkers by the time it was announced that the erstwhile
circus stars would be placed at public auction.

On March 28, 1889, businessman George Valentine Gress purchased the entire
collection, donating the wildlife to the city of Atlanta. One of only 13 zoos in the
U.S. at the time, the Gress Zoological Gardens opened that April, with Grant Park
streetcars straining to accommodate an opening weekend attendance of nearly
12,000.

Now home to more than 1,300 mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians
and the locus of numerous international conservation programs, Zoo Atlanta remains
one of the top 10 oldest zoos in continuous operation in America. “Reaching this
milestone is exciting especially as we embark on an amazing 20 year master plan that will
transform and take Zoo Atlanta into the next 120 years,” said Zoo Atlanta President and
CEO Dennis Kelly.

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Emory Lands 'Robinson Crusoe' Rarities

Emory University's Manuscript, Archives and Rare Book Library (MARBL) has received a collection of 699 editions of Daniel Defoe's celebrated novel, "Robinson Crusoe." Donated by Emory alumnus Robert Lovett and his wife, Miriam, the Robert W. and Miriam Lovett Crusoe Collection includes many extremely rare volumes, among them five 18th century editions that are found only in the Lovett collection.

Robert Lovett spent much of his career acquiring rare and unique copies of the famed literary work, which has been considered by many as the first novel written in English. Among the volumes in the Lovett Collection is a rare first edition published in London in 1719. The Lovett Collection is among the more significant collections of Robinson Crusoe volumes in the United States.

"Robinson Crusoe has inspired plays, operas, a children's book, and served as a moralistic mantra for 19th century empire builders," says Lovett, a 1969 graduate of Emory's Graduate School. Lovett co-authored a definitive Crusoe bibliography with his son and fellow rare book collector, Charles Candler Lovett. The volume identifies 1,198 editions, variants of editions, pirated editions, abridgements, abridgements designed for children, reissues and free adaptations of Defoe's groundbreaking work.

"We are deeply grateful to Bob and Miriam Lovett for their generosity," says Rick Luce, vice provost of Emory University and director of Emory Libraries. "The Robert W. and Miriam Lovett Crusoe Collection is an extraordinary resource for scholars from across the disciplines and will further MARBL's mission to bring together rare and unique collections to stimulate conversations that will transform the world."

Lovett's chose to donate the collection to Emory because he wanted it to be "in a first-class research library where it will be used," he says. MARBL is one of the nation's fastest-growing humanities research libraries.

"This collection will be used by students of history, the history of the book and art history as well as English literature," says David Faulds, a cataloguer with MARBL. "Single book collections are very useful. Obviously the text doesn't change a whole lot, but the illustrations and bindings—and the audience—do."

Noted 18th-century literature specialist and University of Virginia faculty member J. Paul Hunter spoke on "The Young and the Restless: Robinson Crusoe and Daniel Defoe" on Nov. 20 at Emory's Miller-Ward Alumni House to celebrate the gift of the collection. A former professor of English at Emory College, Hunter also is a professor emeritus at Wake Forest University. Lovett was Hunter's second Ph.D. student.

The gift to MARBL is part of the private support being sought for Campaign Emory, a $1.6 billion fundraising endeavor that combines private support and the University's people, places and programs to make a powerful contribution to the world. The campaign is expected to transform every school and unit of the university. Investments in the campaign fuel efforts to address fundamental challenges: improving health, gaining ground in science and technology, resolving conflict, harnessing the power of the arts, and educating the heart and mind.

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Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database Debuts at Emory

/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A group of international scholars will gather at Emory Dec. 5-6 to celebrate the debut of "Voyages: The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database" (www.slavevoyages.org) as it begins its own maiden expedition.

Two years in the making at Emory, the free and interactive Web-based resource documents the slave trade from Africa to the New World between the 16th and 19th centuries, says David Eltis, Robert W. Woodruff Professor of History and one of the scholars who originally published "The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade" as a CD-ROM in 1999. He and Martin Halbert, director of digital innovations for Emory Libraries, directed the work that made the online "Voyages" project expandable, interactive and publicly accessible.

"'Voyages' provides searchable information on almost 35,000 trans-Atlantic voyages hauling human cargo, as well as maps, images and data on some individual Africans transported," says Eltis.

The conference, which also marks the bicentennial of the end of the trans-Atlantic slave trade in 1808, will feature presentations by Eltis' graduate students who have worked on the database, with leading scholars commenting on their papers. Other sessions include "The Slave Trade, the Web site and Atlantic History" and "The Slave Trade, the Website and the Classroom."

David Brion Davis, Sterling Professor of History Emeritus and founding director emeritus of the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance and Abolition at Yale University, will give a keynote lecture on "Comparing the Paths to American and British Slave-Trade Abolition." Following Davis' talk will be the formal launch of the "Voyages" database by Rick Luce, director of University Libraries. For more information on the conference, visit www.ias.emory.edu/events/SlaveTradeConference.pdf.

Database Establishes Links Between America, Africa

Funded by grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities and Harvard University's W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research, "Voyages" is based on the seminal 1999 work, "The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade." That CD-ROM included more than 27,000 slave trade voyages and has been popular with scholars and genealogists alike. However, it is no longer available and had several limitations.

"Everyone wants to know where their ancestors came from," Eltis says. "There are more data on the slave trade than on the free migrant movement simply because the slave trade was a business and people were property, so records were likely to be better. What the database makes possible is the establishment of links between America and Africa in a way that already has been done by historians for Europeans."

Adds Halbert: "The digital and Web-based Voyages publication is intentionally collaborative and can grow and change over time. Scholars who discover new information can add it to the database, and thus share it with their colleagues. In addition, researchers can download the database in a format compatible with the SPSS statistical package."

Slave Trade Database in the Classroom

Halbert, Eltis and their team also collaborated with educators from public and private middle and high schools to create lessons plans and other materials, so that K-12 teachers can take "Voyages" into their classrooms. These and other resources on the site, such as images, introductory maps and essays, help visitors appreciate the reality of the slave trade, says project manager Liz Milewicz.

Henry Louis Gates, the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor at Harvard University and writer/producer of the PBS documentary "African American Lives," credits "Voyages" with shedding an important light on the hidden history of 12.5 million slaves.

"The greatest mystery in the history of the West, I believe, has always been the Africans who were enslaved and shipped to the New World," he said. "Their ancestries, their identities, their stories were lost in the ships that carried them across the Atlantic. The multi-decade and collaborative project that brought us [the Voyages] site has done more to reverse the Middle Passage than any other single act of scholarship possibly could."


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Georgia Aquarium Makes U.S. History with Display of Manta Ray

The manta ray is the largest of all rays, weighing up to 6,000 lbs and measuring up to 26 feet in width. It has a unique body shape, with an extremely broad head and an enormous, wide mouth flanked by two broad, flexible lobes. These fins are kept rolled and pointed forward, except when the manta is feeding. Its tail is whip-like, but short, and does not have a barb or spine. The manta ray is primarily a plankton feeder, but also consumes small and moderate-sized fishes. It is listed as "near threatened" on the IUCN Red List.

PRNewswire/ -- The Georgia Aquarium announced today the addition of a manta ray to the 6.3 million gallon Ocean Voyager gallery, built by The Home Depot. The addition of the female manta ray, Nandi, makes Georgia Aquarium the only aquarium in the United States to ever house a manta ray and one of only four aquariums in the world to display this species. Nandi will join four whale sharks and thousands of other animals in the world's largest aquarium exhibit.

"As the Georgia Aquarium grows as a tourist destination, our opportunity to promote conservation and education grows," said Mike Leven, chief executive officer of the Georgia Aquarium. "The addition of Nandi, who inspired hundreds of thousands of people in South Africa, gives us the opportunity to elevate her as an ambassador for her species. Millions of people who may have never had the chance to see a manta ray will now have that chance at the Georgia Aquarium."

Nandi, who measures more than nine feet across and weighs approximately 456 lbs, flew 9,000 miles on a chartered 747-200 aircraft from Durban, South Africa through Cape Verde, Africa, to Atlanta. The manta ray was under the care and supervision of Georgia Aquarium and uShaka Marine World professional staff and maintained by a highly advanced marine life support system.

"The Georgia Aquarium's success in moving whale sharks across the world gave us confidence that this was the right thing to do," said Dr. Mark Penning, executive director of uShaka Marine World. "We see this as a perfect opportunity to create an international partnership and continue Nandi's incredible story, raising worldwide awareness about manta rays."

Nandi was rescued from shark nets off the coast of Durban, South Africa, in April 2007 and rehabilitated by uShaka Marine World, the largest marine park in Africa. She has lived in uShaka for the past year, educating and inspiring conservation in more than 500,000 people.

Manta rays are the largest rays in the sea, but Nandi was young when she was rescued, measuring just more than eight feet across and weighing around 245 lbs. She had since outgrown her 580,000 gallon exhibit. In order to raise worldwide awareness about manta rays, Georgia Aquarium and uShaka created an international partnership to bring Nandi from South Africa to Georgia Aquarium.

"No one has ever done this before," said Leven. "Flying the world's largest ray, a manta ray, from one side of the world to the other and housing it in a U.S. aquarium for the first time is incredible. Having the opportunity to work with this animal and grow our understanding of this strange yet gentle giant will be an opportunity of a lifetime."

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UGA to Name Campus Buildings for Former Governors Vandiver, Harris and Miller

The University of Georgia will name three prominent campus buildings for former Georgia governors S. Ernest Vandiver, Joe Frank Harris and Zell Miller. The namings honor the former governors, all UGA graduates, for their contributions to advancing higher education in the state and their support of the university.

UGA will name a residence hall in the East Campus Village the S. Ernest Vandiver Jr. Hall to honor the state’s chief executive from 1959 to 1963. A building known as East Village Commons will become the Joe Frank Harris Commons in honor of Harris, who served two terms from 1983 to 1991. The Student Learning Center will become the Zell B. Miller Learning Center recognizing Miller’s 60 years of public service including two terms as governor, from 1991 to 1999, and four years in the U.S. Senate.

The University System of Georgia Board of Regents today approved a request from UGA President Michael F. Adams to name the buildings for the former governors.

“Ernest Vandiver, Joe Frank Harris and Zell Miller stand out as three of the greatest champions of education in modern Georgia history,” Adams said. “Their leadership, vision and commitment were instrumental in helping build an outstanding system of public colleges and universities in Georgia and instilling in our citizens a deep respect for the value of education. The University of Georgia is extremely grateful for their service and accomplishments, and proud to pay them homage through these namings.”

While doing much to improve higher education for the entire state, the former governors also strongly supported their alma mater, said Arnett Mace, UGA’s senior vice president for academic affairs and provost.

“Governors Vandiver, Harris and Miller all recognized UGA’s role in providing educational leadership for Georgia and they worked to ensure that the university received state resources and assistance to carry out this mission,” said Mace.

Vandiver, who died in 2005, held business and law degrees from UGA. As governor, he oversaw a 29 percent increase in state appropriations for higher education and helped fund major construction projects at UGA and other colleges. But his lasting legacy is his leadership in keeping UGA open in the face of efforts by other state leaders to close the school rather than accept racial integration in 1961.

The six-story building that will bear his name is one of four apartment-style residence halls in East Campus Village. Opened in 2004, the halls offer single-occupancy bedrooms, private or semi-private bathrooms, kitchens and furnished living rooms and collectively house about 1,200 upper-class and graduate students.

Harris, who earned a business administration degree from UGA in 1958, instituted the Quality Basic Education program, created the Georgia Research Consortium and boosted state funding for education by $2 billion. The number of students at the state’s public colleges and universities grew by a third and 1,100 elementary and secondary school buildings were erected. In 1999, Harris became the first former governor appointed to the Board of Regents.

His namesake building, which features a dramatic staircase and sweeping vistas of East Campus, is a hub of student activities on East Campus. The building houses the primary food service facilities for students living in East Campus Village including a large cafeteria with specialty food stations, a small café and a convenience store. The building also includes spaces for meetings and student activities, commissary and production facilities to support food venues, and offices of University Parking Services.

Miller earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in political science from UGA. While he was governor, state higher education appropriations rose by almost 60 percent, faculty salaries climbed almost 30 percent and capital expenditures for the university system increased by $1 billion. A hallmark of Miller’s administration was creation of the HOPE Scholarship, which has provided more than $4 billion in college scholarships to more than one million Georgia students.

The Miller Learning Center, occupying a 6.5-acre footprint, is the second-largest building on UGA’s campus. Opened in 2003, the center includes 26 classrooms and 96 small study rooms, an electronic library that allows users to electronically access materials in other university libraries, and 500 public-access computers. Many classrooms and study rooms have laptop connections. The building also has a reading room and coffee shop.

Dedication ceremonies to officially name each building will be held later.

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Southern Storm: Sherman's March to the Sea

For the Civil War in particular and American history in general, there are few more powerfully evocative events than Sherman's March to the Sea. To this day Sherman is still remembered as both a savior of the Union and as an unprosecuted war criminal. Why?

The Georgia Historical Society invites you to attend a free lecture by award-winning Civil War historian Noah Andre Trudeau.

The lecture will be held on Thursday, August 14, 2008, at 7:00 p.m. at Congregation Mickve Israel, 20 E. Gordon Street, on Monterey Square in downtown Savannah.

Copies of Trudeau's book Southern Storm: Sherman's March to the Sea will be available for sale and a book-signing will follow the lecture.

Drawing on Research conducted at the Georgia Historical Society, Trudeau has written a fascinating new account of United States Army General William Tecumseh Sherman's epic march-a targeted strategy aimed to break not only the Confederate Army but an entire society as well. In vivid detail, Trudeau explains why General Sherman's name is still anathema below the Mason-Dixon Line, especially in Georgia...

The Georgia Historical Society, headquartered in Savannah, is the oldest cultural institution in the state and one of the oldest historical organizations in the nation. It is the first and only statewide historical society in Georgia. For nearly 175 years, GHS has collected, preserved, and shared Georgia history through a variety of educational outreach programs, publications, and research services. For more information visit: www.georgiahistory.com.

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Emory Crawford Long Hospital Celebrates History Through Service

Most people don't equate celebrating a birthday or important milestone by making hard work an actual part of that celebration. But Emory Crawford Long Hospital, which this year marks its 100th anniversary, is celebrating its history in a unique way.

Employees will volunteer their time and efforts as part of the hospital's "100 Days of Service" campaign - a summer long commitment to serving the communities who have supported Emory for a century.

"Our goal in this process is to encourage staff to donate time in the community in whatever capacity possible," says Tracy Russell-Gonzalez, director of guest and volunteer services. "As part of this program, we hope to give back to our communities in a way that is meaningful, fun and also builds community spirit among our own employees."

The process began with a volunteer fair at Emory Crawford Long Hospital in April where 16 local organizations set up tables. This allowed employees to talk to the organizations one-on-one and find an avenue that piqued their interest.

As soon as Roxann Arnold, director of patient accounts, saw the Ronald McDonald House volunteer table, she was sold. "I am partial to any volunteer work that has to do with children," says Arnold. Inspired by her time at the Ronald McDonald House, Arnold now collects beverage tabs for the organization and has encouraged her friends to do the same.

The volunteer process continues through August 30. Upon conclusion, volunteer hours will be totaled, and awards handed out for involvement. Staff volunteers are encouraged to bring their families to volunteer, as there are many family-oriented volunteer opportunities.

"I hope folks will bring their youngsters and start a generational process," says Russell-Gonzalez.

Megaan Lorenzen, endoscopy nurse manager, did just that by taking her two children to the Atlanta Food Bank to volunteer. "The kids were excited to be allowed to do something to help people and they thought it was 'cool` that kids could actually make such a huge impact," says Lorenzen.

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FBI 100 - The Top Ten Moments in FBI History

GFP Note: Happy Anniversary FBI! Thanks for protecting us all these years!

Over the course of a century—during which we’ve been involved in just about every major event in U.S. history and had countless innovations and famous cases—it’s hard to pick just ten. But here, in chronological order, are our choices for the top ten moments in FBI history…

1) July 26, 1908 – The Bureau is Born

No surprise on this one. But what you may not know is that our origins were somewhat tentative and filled with political intrigue. By early 1908, Teddy Roosevelt’s Attorney General—Charles Bonaparte—was growing weary of borrowing investigators from other agencies for federal cases under his jurisdiction. When Congress outlawed that practice in May, he had no choice but to pull together his own corps of agents. On July 26, Bonaparte sent a memo to his department announcing this new “force of special agents.” It started small, with just 34 agents and no name. And it was considered something of an experiment by both Bonaparte and Congress. But over time the force started making a difference…and the rest is history.

2) May 10, 1924 – Hoover Takes the Helm

Appointed to clean up a scandal-plagued Bureau, 29-year-old Acting Director J. Edgar Hoover immediately began instituting a series of reforms that transformed the FBI into the professional law enforcement organization that it is today. Over the next decade, Hoover strengthened the organizational and hiring practices of the Bureau, created a central repository for criminal identification and criminal history records, instituted a technical laboratory (the forerunner of today’s FBI Lab), began gathering and reporting national crime stats, and fostered a rigorous training program for American and international law enforcement alike. Though often remembered more for controversies in his later years, Hoover played a vital role in lifting the overall capabilities and professionalism of the FBI and U.S. law enforcement.

The scene outside the railroad station shortly after the "Kansas City" Massacre

3) June 17, 1933 – The Kansas City Massacre

It’s hard to imagine today, but for the Bureau’s first quarter-century agents weren’t allowed to make their own arrests, and they only carried weapons in limited cases. That began to change one shocking morning outside a train station in Kansas City, Missouri, when Charles “Pretty Boy” Floyd and other gangsters suddenly opened fire on a group of lawmen transporting an escaped con back to prison. Killed in the hail of bullets were two police officers, a police chief, and a Bureau special agent. The public was stunned by what became known as the “Kansas City Massacre,” and Congress responded within a year by authorizing special agents to carry guns, to make arrests, and to tackle a wider array of gangster crime, which has helped us protect the nation ever since.

John Dillinger, who met his end on July 22, 1934

4) July 22, 1934 – The Death of Dillinger

In many ways, John Dillinger was the most notorious of the Depression-era gangsters, the leader of a ruthless band of gun-slinging bank robbers and crooks who was able to charm the press and American people into believing he was a harmless Robin Hood. Dillinger’s fame and ability to elude the law were reaching disastrous levels when we joined the hunt for him in the winter of 1933/1934. Despite a few stumbles along the way, Bureau agents tracked Dillinger down on July 22 and shot him dead in the streets of Chicago as he reached for his gun. The successful investigation catapulted the largely-unknown agency to worldwide fame and was the beginning of the end of the lawless gangster years.

5) June 26, 1939 – Getting Ready for War

More than two years before bombs fell on Pearl Harbor, the FBI was already preparing to protect the nation from its wartime enemies. It started when President Franklin Roosevelt signed a secret order in June 1939 putting the FBI (and the Army and Navy to a lesser extent) in charge of homeland security, including espionage, sabotage, and subversion. In June 1940, we were also asked to collect foreign intelligence in Central and South America. Our ensuing “Special Intelligence Service,” or SIS—a little-known initiative even now—ended up producing a trove of intelligence and outing some 887 Axis spies. Though later dissolved with the creation of the CIA, the SIS laid the groundwork for our network of international offices, which are vital to our ability to combat global crime and terror today. And overall, our work before and during the war ensured that not a single act of enemy-directed sabotage was carried out on U.S. soil.

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg ride with Morton Sobell (far left), another convicted member of the Rosenberg's spy ring, as the jury deliberates

6) September 1, 1947 – To Catch a Spy

Intelligence was not new to the FBI; neither was cooperating with the Army. But in September 1947, these two things started to come together in a powerful way when Special Agent Wesley Reynolds was briefed on a top secret Army cryptanalytic program and brought decoded Soviet spy messages back to the Bureau. In the spring of 1948, Special Agent Robert Lamphere became interested in these messages and combined his expertise and the Bureau’s growing knowledge of Soviet espionage with the work of the Army’s brilliant cryptanalyst Meredith Gardner. Together, the two began to make sense of Soviet telegrams sent from the U.S. and other western countries during World War II. Soon they were on the trail of Soviet spies like Judith Coplon, Klaus Fuchs, Julius Rosenberg, and many others. Their work and that of their successors—a project now known as Venona—allowed the FBI and its partners to identify more than 100 Soviet agents, keep traitors from accessing crucial national secrets, and start moving more proactively against Soviet intelligence in the 1950s and beyond. When Venona was declassified in 1995, it led to a significant re-evaluation of Cold War history.

This burnt-out station wagon led to the case name "MIBURN," short for Mississippi Burning.

7) June 21, 1964 – Mississippi Burning

By the early 1960s the civil rights movement was starting to make headway in America, but the backlash from the KKK and others was growing. When three young men who had volunteered to help register African-American voters in Mississippi disappeared suddenly on June 21, 1964, President Johnson called on the FBI to investigate, and we did so rigorously. Within a short time, we found the young men’s burnt-out station wagon (thus the famous case name “MIBURN”), located their bodies, and gathered important evidence that led to indictments. Although it took a long time (decades, tragically) to secure a measure of justice in the courtroom, national outrage over the crime helped spur passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Together with the Civil Rights Act of 1964, these laws—for the first time—put real teeth into the FBI’s ability to defend the rights and freedoms of all Americans. We’ve used them to great effect ever since.

8) October 15, 1970 – New Law of the Land

In the fall of 1970, Congress passed the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, commonly called “RICO,” as part of a larger bill. What a huge milestone it turned out to be. Finally, the FBI had the legal muscle to go after criminal enterprises like the Mafia the right way—investigating their entire organizations, leaders and all, instead of just individuals who had committed a crime. Thanks to this legislation and other new approaches (like using undercover agents and Title III wiretaps to gather evidence), we were soon working with our partners to dismantle entire mob families from the top down and putting a serious dent in the Mafia’s corrupting and violent ways. We’ve also used the law over the years to combat street gangs, drug rings, corruption activities, and even terrorist financing activities in this country.

The Watergate complex, site of the famous breakin

9) November 18, 1975 – Domestic Intelligence Redefined

During the early 1970s, especially after J. Edgar Hoover died in May 1972, revelations began to surface about potential abuses in the intelligence community. In 1975, on the heels of Watergate and the changing political climate it engendered, Senator Frank Church opened a series of hearings unlike any before into domestic intelligence issues. Front and center was the FBI, which was sharply criticized for its investigation of Dr. Martin Luther King, its surveillance practices, and other concerns. In response, the Bureau accelerated its re-evaluation of its domestic security programs and worked with the Attorney General to craft guidelines governing domestic security operations. These changes established clearer parameters for FBI cases and made agents more respectful than ever of the need to protect constitutional rights.

A pair of FBI employees inside the Pentagon shortly after the 9/11 attacks

10) September 11, 2001 – America is Attacked

In one horrific morning, everything changed for America—and for the FBI. The attacks quickly became the most massive investigation in our history, with a quarter of all agents and support personnel directly involved. And even before the dust settled, we had a new overriding mission: to stop terrorists before they strike. The FBI had prevented dozens of terrorist plots before 9/11—including nearly 60 during the 1990s alone. But these attacks showed that our strategic capabilities had to improve—that we needed to be more forward-leaning, more predictive, a step ahead of the next germinating threat. What followed was one of the most far-reaching transformations in FBI history, as we strengthened our counterterrorism and intelligence capabilities in profound new ways. The result has been innumerable successes over the past seven years, from heading off developing plots here in the U.S. to helping take out key terrorist operatives overseas by sharing key intelligence and information.

MCG School of Allied Health Sciences Video Receives Telly Award

A video celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Medical College of Georgia School of Allied Health Sciences has earned MCG videographer Tim Johnson a Bronze Telly Award.

Mr. Johnson directed, edited, co-produced and served as videographer of Remembering 40 Years of Excellence, which debuted during MCG Homecoming in April. Dean Shelley C. Mishoe was executive producer, Dr. W. Kent Guion, associate dean for student, faculty and community affairs, producer and Grace Miller, the school's director of advancement, co-producer.

The video features historical footage and photographs and interviews with the school's founding dean, the late Raymond Bard, via archival footage, Dean Emeritus Biagio Vericella and Dean Mishoe. MCG President Daniel W. Rahn and Provost Barry D. Goldstein also are featured.

The Telly Awards honor video and film productions and local, regional and cable commercials and programs and are considered premier awards for the industry. This year's 29th annual competition received 13,500 entries from all 50 states and across the world. Entries don't compete against each other, but against a high standard of excellence, with only 18 to 25 percent of entrants receiving a Bronze Telly Award for outstanding achievement.

Mr. Johnson earned a bachelor's degree in communications from Augusta College (now Augusta State University). He has worked for production houses in California, Augusta and Aiken, S.C., and spent 10 years in cable television as a video producer and freelancer before coming to MCG's Department of Visual and Instructional Design in 2004.

He has garnered five national awards at MCG, including two Telly Awards for other School of Allied Health Sciences videos: a 2005 Silver Telly, the highest honor, for To Teach, Discover and Care, and a 2007 Bronze Telly for If Given the Opportunity. He received the Health and Science Communications Association’s Silver Award and the Admissions Advertising Award for his video, A Closer Look: MCG Admissions. In Augusta's Southern Fried Flicks Film Festival, he received the 2005 award for Best Short Feature and the 2006 award for Best Local Feature.