Godfrey Receives BEA Education Service Award

Professor Donald Godfrey of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication has been named the Broadcast Education Association’s 2008 Distinguished Education Service Award winner.

The association’s highest honor goes each year to an individual who has made a significant and lasting contribution to electronic media education. The award will be presented to Godfrey at a ceremony in Las Vegas in April.

Godfrey, who has his PhD from the University of Washington, has spent more than 35 years in the broadcast education profession, lecturing, and teaching aspiring electronic media professionals. He has been a part of the Cronkite faculty at Arizona State University since 1988.

"I'm extremely pleased that the DESA Committee has chosen Don Godfrey as the recipient of this year's award,” said Thomas R. Berg, president of the Broadcast Education Association. “Dr. Godfrey continues to distinguish himself as both scholar and educator, and is an active, productive member of the Broadcast Education Association. He richly deserves the 2008 DESA award."

Godfrey has served on the BEA board of directors for eight years and as president of the association from 1999-2000. He was the driving force behind the establishment of the Festival of Media Arts that has since become a prominent part of BEA’s annual convention in Las Vegas.

The festival showcases the best faculty and student-produced work from universities across the country. Godfrey also helped establish a BEA scholarship fund for outstanding broadcast students.He is currently editor of the Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, the scholarly journal published quarterly by BEA, which is considered one of the leading publications in the communication field.

Last year Godfrey received another top honor in his field when he was named a recipient of the 2007 Silver Circle Award by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. The Broadcast Education Association is a professional association for professors, industry professionals and graduate students interested in teaching and research related to electronic media and multimedia enterprises. There are currently more than 1,500 individual and institutional members.