About

The College of Communication

The Texas Program in Sports and Media will be part of U.T.’s College of Communication, the largest and most comprehensive entity in the field and one of the highest ranked as well.

In an age requiring information literacy and polished interaction skills, the College has nationally ranked programs in Advertising and Public Relations, Communication Sciences and Disorders, Communication Studies, Journalism, and Radio-TV-Film while also providing communication, critical thinking, and writing skills to other disciplines across campus.

Its graduates have spanned the globe and include U.S. ambassadors, corporate CEOs, media entrepreneurs, state and federal legislators, nineteen Pulitzer Prize winners, researchers, filmmakers, actors, and one First Lady of the United States.

The Belo Center for New Media

The Texas Program in Sports and Media will eventually be housed in the Belo Center for New Media, a building scheduled to be opened in March of 2012.

In its basic design and structure, the Center will cross traditional disciplinary boundaries and create new forms of communication and collaboration. The Belo Center will be situated at a major intersection that will serve as a gateway to the northwestern side of The University. Such a location means that the Center will be highly visible to University personnel as well as to the people of Austin.

The Center will combine cutting-edge technology, trans-disciplinary programs, and international perspectives. It will enable students to combine traditional methods with progressive media to shape ideas that will change the face of communication throughout the world.

Board of Advisors

In its formative stages, the Texas Program in Sports and Media will need all the advice it can get. Accordingly, a small but carefully chosen Advisory Board has been assembled to help light the way:

Dr. Isabella Cunningham, chair of U.T.’s Department of Advertising and Public Relations

Tracy Dahlby, Director of U.T.’s School of Journalism

Josh Davis, the winner of 10 Olympic medals in swimming and a graduate of the College of Communication

Kiki De Ayala, President of De Ayala Properties, LLC. Former UT football standout and a College of Communication grad

DeLoss Dodds, Men’s Athletics Director at The University of Texas at Austin

Suzanne Halliburton, sports writer for the Austin American-Statesman and a U.T. graduate

Cappy McGarr, a graduate of the College of Communication and a financier in Dallas

Mark Pannes, an Outstanding Alumnus of the College and currently Director of Sport at HSBC Private Bank in London

Chris Plonsky, U.T.’s Director of Women’s Athletics and a Communication graduate of Kent State University

Jim Ritts, College of Communication grad and former Commissioner of Ladies Professional Golf

Steve Underwood, Senior Executive Vice President of the Tennessee Titans and a College of Communication grad

U.T. graduate Dr. Steven Ungerleider, a clinical psychologist and widely published author