College Sports Information Directors of America

Lifetime Achievement Award
Presented to individuals who have served at least 25 years in the athletics communications profession (as of July 2026) who are retiring or leaving the profession. Years of service vetted by the Special Awards Committee. Members may self-nominate for this award.

Alan Cannon — Texas A&M University Executive Associate Athletics Director for External Operations (retired)
 

“It has been an honor and privilege to serve in the athletics communications business and I have been blessed with great staffs and student workers and have been most fortunate to work with many terrific professionals in the College Sports Communicators.” — Alan Cannon, 2026 CSC Lifetime Achievement Award recipient

Alan Cannon served many years with Texas A&M athletics beginning on the payroll in May 1981 before retiring from his full-time position at the end of June 2025.

Cannon headed up the communications office from 1989 until 2025 and worked with all 20 men’s and women’s sports while focusing on football. A 1984 marketing graduate of Texas A&M, Cannon began his career in sports information as a high school intern at SMU under the tutelage of Bob Condron. Condron is the former director of media services for the U.S. Olympic Committee. He is a past president of the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and was the 1999 winner of the prestigious Wilbur Snypp Award presented by the organization. He is also a member of College Sports Communicators, as well as the Football Writers Association of America.

He was honored by the All-American Football Foundation with the Scoop Hudgens Lifetime Sports Information Director Award in 1999. Cannon was selected by his peers to serve in the officer rotation of CSC. He served as the organization’s president in 2002-03 and was named to the CSC Hall of Fame in June 2014 and received the organization’s Arch Ward Award in June 2018.

Cannon, the son of LaJoyce and the late Bobby Cannon of Dallas, is married to the former Kaye Miller of Bryan. Kaye is a kindergarten teacher at College Hills Elementary in College Station. The couple has two daughters who luckily took after their mother as kindergarten teachers — Katie, a ’17 Texas A&M graduate and former member of the Aggie Dance Team, and Macie, a ’23 Texas A&M graduate who teaches at River Bend Elementary in College Station. Katie is married to Luke Lawrence ’17 and lives in New York.
 

John Bianco, University of Texas Senior Associate AD for Communications, CSC Hall of Famer: “Alan is the consummate professional and has been an incredible representative and advocate of our field for decades. He is a tremendous asset to our College Sports Communicators organization and his accomplishments at Texas A&M not only enhance the image and brand of the athletics department, but the university as a whole. I've been fortunate to work closely with him as a colleague for many years, and there is no one in our business for whom I have greater respect and admiration.  

Alan has mentored countless individuals, set an outstanding example, and provided guidance to hundreds within our profession, as well as to the student-athletes, coaches and administrators he served. He is exceptionally deserving of this honor and any recognition he receives — first because he works tirelessly at his job, and second because he is a first-class individual who has devoted so much time and energy to helping and supporting others. 

Rivalries may run deep on the playing field — and there's none greater than the Texas-Texas A&M Lone Star Showdown — but that has never impacted Alan and my relationship (or anyone for that matter). From the moment I arrived at Texas, he has been welcoming, caring, thoughtful and supportive. I am deeply appreciative of our longtime friendship and the many conversations we've shared exchanging best practices and ideas on how to continually improve as communicators and media relations professionals. But before business, he's quick to ask about family and genuinely wants to know how you're doing. Alan is the absolute best and a pillar of our organization!”

Herb Vincent, Southeastern Conference Associate Commissioner, CSC Hall of Famer and 2019-20 CSC President: “For more than four decades, Alan served his university — his alma mater — with dedication, loyalty and dignity. I have known Alan since he and I became sports information directors at our respective institutions within eight months of each other in the late 1980s. I have never known Alan not to have a smile on his face, offer a helping hand to anyone who needs it or to be enthusiastic about his job each and every time I have had the good fortune to talk with him. He is respected by everyone on the A&M campus, throughout the SEC and across the country for his integrity and professionalism.”

Pete Moore, Syracuse University Director of Athletic Communications, CSC Hall of Famer and 2001-02 CSC President: “Alan Cannon is one of the unique athletic communications professionals who conducted himself in such a way that he and the athletic department he worked in are synonymous. Alan Cannon=Texas A&M and Texas A&M=Alan Cannon. To reach that level is something few people attain, but Alan has earned it. In addition to the A+ work he did for decades at Texas A&M, Alan also invested in our profession by accepting leadership roles, including a spot on the CSC Board of Directors that led to his term as the organization's president. His career certainly represents Lifetime Achievement.”