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2024 Special Awards Announcements
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Special Awards Program
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Lifetime Achievement Award
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25-Year Award
CSC continues its week-long announcements of the 2024 Special Award recipients by honoring seven former and current members with Lifetime Achievement Award honors and 18 with 25-Year Awards for a quarter century of service.
2024 Special Awards Announcements:
Please note: Following this week's announcements of all awards, CSC will highlight recipients throughout the spring with special individualized content and social media recognitions and honor them in person during the June CSC UNITE24 convention in Las Vegas (June 9-12).
Honoree information compiled by CSC Special Awards Committee Chair Jeff Hodges (University of North Alabama) and Barb Kowal, CSC Director of Professional Development and Operations.
College Sports Communicators continues its week-long announcements of the 2024 Special Award recipients by honoring seven former and current members with Lifetime Achievement Award honors and 18 with 25-Year Awards for a quarter century of full-time service (or more) in the college sports communications profession.
The CSC Lifetime Achievement Awards are presented to members who have served at least 25 years in the profession and who are retiring, have retired, or are leaving the athletic communications profession.
Receiving their Lifetime Achievement Awards this year are:
- Joe Browning – UNC Wilmington, Senior Associate Athletic Director (retired)
- Larry Dougherty – Temple University, Senior Associate Athletics Director for Strategic Communications (retired)
- Dick Lipe – Bentley University, Director of Athletic Communications (semi-retired; currently part-time Sports Information Specialist)
- Gene McGivern – University of St. Thomas, Sports Information Director (retired)
- Diane Nordstrom – University of Wisconsin, Associate Director of Communications (retired)
- Dave Saba – Duquesne University, Associate Athletic Director for Media Relations (retired)
- Tom Schott – Purdue University, Director of Executive Communications (Marketing and Communications Office)/formerly Purdue Athletics Senior Associate Athletic Director, Strategic Communications
CSC's 25-Year Awards are presented to CSC members who have completed 25 years full-time (or more) in the sports communications profession (as of July, 2023) or who have been a member for 25 years. A complete list of 25-year Award recipients for 2023 is below.
All of the 2024 CSC special award winners will be honored at CSC's 67th annual convention,
#CSCUnite24, from June 9-12 at the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas. The convention is held in conjunction with
NACDA and Affiliates Convention Week.
A closer look at the honorees:
CSC Lifetime Achievement Award
Presented to individuals who have served at least 25 years
in the athletics communications profession (as of July 2024) who are retiring or leaving the profession.
Years of service vetted by the Special Awards Committee. Members may self-nominate for this award.
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Joe Browning – UNC Wilmington
Senior Associate Athletic Director (retired)
Joe Browning has racked up impressive stats during his 37 years as a collegiate athletic administrator at UNCW. He served seven chancellors and seven athletic directors, worked with 107 head coaches, promoted 13,000 student-athletes and traveled to more than 40 states and four countries.
As a member of UNCW Athletics' senior management team, Browning led communication efforts and oversaw many of the department's programs, including creation of the department's first athletics website, establishing the UNCW Athletic Hall of Fame, developing the Seahawk Digital Network, and expanding the university's radio and internet properties.
Browning retired from his post as senior associate athletic director on Sept. 1, 2023.
Browning's work in the realm of athletics wasn't limited to the collegiate level. He was a media relations staff member for the U.S. Olympic Committee for several events, including the 1991 Pan American Games in Havana, Cuba and the 1992 Winter Olympic Games in Albertville, France. Browning is also one of the founders and served as the first president of the North Carolina Collegiate Sports Information Association.
In May 2022, Browning was inducted into UNCW's prestigious Order of Issac Bear, an honor recognizing "those who have demonstrated loyalty to UNCW, contributed to the academic quality of the university or had a significant role in uniting the institution and the community."
A regular attendee at the annual CSC conventions, Browning participated in numerous Goodwill and Wellness Committee community service/charity events and fundraising opportunities around each convention. The CSC Lifetime Achievement Award is his second major recognition by the organization. He also received a 25-Year Award in 2008.
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Larry Dougherty – Temple University
Senior Associate Athletics Director for Strategic Communications (retired)
A CSC Hall of Famer and former president of the organization,
Larry Dougherty retired after a 38-year career in college athletics in late 2023, a tenure which included the last 20 years at Temple.
Last year Dougherty celebrated his 20th year at Temple and 12th as senior associate athletic director for strategic communications, after serving the previous four years as associate AD. In his position, Dougherty oversaw the athletic communications of the University's 19-sport Division I-A athletic program.
Dougherty joined the Owls' staff after serving 15 years in the media relations office at Saint Joseph's, the last eight as the school's assistant athletic director for media relations. Prior to SJU, he served as the SID at Nicholls State for one year and as the information director of the East Coast Conference for two years.
The Lifetime Achievement Award is his fifth major recognition or award from the College Sports Communicators.
Active in regional and national organizations, Dougherty served as the president of CSC during 2010-11. A year prior, he had received a 25-Year Award for his quarter century of service to the profession. Dougherty was inducted into the CSC Hall of Fame in 2015 and in 2017, he received the organization's Bob Kenworthy Community Service Award.
Last year, he earned the 2023 Arch Ward Award from CSC. This is annually presented to a current CSC member who has made outstanding contributions to the field of college athletics communications, and who by his or her activities, has brought dignity and prestige to the profession.
Dougherty was the recipient of the ECAC-SIDA's (now EAST-COMM's) 2011 Irving T. Marsh Award, its highest honor for outstanding service and contributions to college sports communications. In 2017 he was named the recipient of the ECAC-SIDA Pete Nevins Award for Distinguished Service Dougherty served as chair of the organizing committee for the 2009 ECAC-SIDA Workshop held in Avalon, N.J., and the 2005 CSC Workshop held in Philadelphia.
Dougherty earned both his bachelor's (1982) and executive MBA (1994) degrees from Saint Joseph's.
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Dick Lipe – Bentley University
Director of Athletic Communications (retired)
Following 50 years on campus, including 46 as the only full-time sports information director in Bentley history,
Dick Lipe stepped down from that role on last July and has transitioned into a new part-time role with Bentley University Athletics as sports information specialist.
Lipe, a 1977 graduate of what was then Bentley College, has been inducted into the Bentley Athletic, Northeast-10 and College Sports Communicators (formerly CoSIDA) halls of fame. He is the longest tenured full-time employee in Bentley Athletics history.
During his time at Bentley, Lipe has witnessed the Falcons capture NCAA Division II national championships in women's basketball (2014) and field hockey (2001); covered 18 basketball teams that reached the Elite Eight; and publicized many teams and student-athletes that earned Northeast-10 championships and/or competed in NCAA championships. During his tenure, Bentley student-athletes whom he has nominated have been selected for Academic All-America honors 88 times.
Lipe has been heavily involved with the CSC Academic All-America program since 1979, serving as chair of the CSC Academic All-America Committee from 1994 to 2011 and chair of the Academic All-America Hall of Fame Selection Committee since 1994.
He has received a number of CSC publication award citations, and his list of honors from CSC also includes the 2002 Warren Berg Award and, the 1996 Lester Jordan Award for his work with the Academic All-America program.
Lipe also received the 2002 Irving Marsh Award from the Eastern Athletic Communications Association (EAST-COMM, formerly ECAC-SIDA) and the 2000 Elmore (Scoop) Hudgens Sports information Director Award from the All-America Football Foundation.
He also served as the first information director for the Northeast-10 Conference and has also worked as talent statistician and researcher for NBC Sports Boston and its predecessors on Boston Celtics broadcasts since 1980.
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Gene McGivern – University of St. Thomas
Sports Information Director (retired)
Gene McGivern retired from his position as sports information director at the University of St. Thomas in August 2023, closing a 30-year career at the school. He became the first SID in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) to work more than 30 years in the conference.
Early in his career, McGivern served as the editor of the Ames Daily Tribune from 1982-88 before becoming the head cross country coach and sports information director at Augsburg College in 1988. In taking that role, which he held until 1994, he became the first ever SID in the history of Augsburg athletics.
He then began his career at the University of St. Thomas in 1994, and over the next 30-years he saw 102 total Tommie student-athletes earned Academic All-America® honors.
McGivern covered seven team national championship seasons during his tenure, covered two Stagg Bowl appearances by Tommie football (2012; 2015) and served as primary media contact for Tommie/Johnnie Football games at Target Field and Allianz Field. He also started and built the Tommies first athletics website (
tommiesports.com).
In 2016, McGivern received the Sid Hartman Media Award , given annually to a member of the Minnesota media by the National Football Foundation. He is the only sports information director to ever be honored with the award.
In 2021, he was the recipient of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference's (MIAC) Mike Augustin Award which recognizes outstanding contributions to MIAC athletic programs and their student-athletes by members of the media or athletic communications.
McGivern was a four-time CSC Fred Stabley Sr. Writing Contest "Best in Nation" award winner and a nine-time "Best in District" winner.
An all-state runner at Assumption High School in Davenport, Iowa, he was the state champion as a senior and was recruited by Iowa State where he became a member of the Cyclones team that finished 10th at NCAA nationals in 1980.
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Diane Nordstrom – University of Wisconsin
Associate Director of Communications (retired)
A member of the CSC Hall of Fame,
Diane Nordstrom had 33 years of service to the Wisconsin athletic department, her alma mater, as an associate athletic communications director. From 1989 to 2023, she worked with 13 of the Badgers' 23 sports and served on the UW Athletic Hall of Fame selection committee. She was the athletic communications contact for the volleyball as well as overseeing students for men's and women's swimming, men's tennis and men's and women's track and field.
Nordstrom retired from her award-winning career in early January 2024.
In 2001, she was named the national winner Grant Burger Media Award by the American Volleyball Coaches Association. The award recognizes a member of the media who has been involved in the advancement of volleyball. She was also a regional winner in 2006, 2013 and 2016.
Nordstrom served as the host athletic communications director of the 1993 and 1998 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship.
Nordstrom began her career in athletic communications as sports information director at UW-Milwaukee from 1986-89.
The Lifetime Achievement Award is Nordtrom's fifth major recognition by the College Sports Communicators. She received a 25-Year Award in 2011 and was singled out for the inaugural CSC Achievement Award (university division )in 2015 which recognizes significant contributions to the profession by an assistant or associate director.
Nordstrom was inducted into the CSC Hall of Fame in 2018. Nordstrom also served on the CSC Board of Directors from 2015-18 and was a long-time chair of the Special Awards Committee. In 2021, she received the President's Award for her work as Special Awards Committee chair.
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Dave Saba – Duquesne University
Associate Athletic Director for Media Relations (retired)
Dave Saba retired in August 2023 from his position as Duquesne University associate athletic director for media relations. This closed a 37-year career that spanned parts of five decades. He had served in his associate AD position since August of 1998. The longest-tenured sports information director in Duquesne history, Saba began his career in college athletics as an intern at the University of Texas in October of 1986.
A Pittsburgh native, Saba was part of all six NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship events that have been held in Pittsburgh, the first as sports information director at Texas in 1997 and the last five (2002, 2012, 2015, 2018 and 2022) as media coordinator while at Duquesne.
He accompanied Texas to seven NCAA Tournaments as a participant (1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997) and staffed numerous bowl games as a Longhorn prior to returning to Pittsburgh.
Duquesne's men's basketball season opener vs. Montana on Nov. 8, 2022 marked Saba's 1,000th men's basketball game worked.
Saba began his professional career in 1985 as a media relations intern with the Philadelphia Eagles. In 1986, he became a ticket office intern at Texas and transitioned to assistant sports information director at Texas in 1987.
He was previously honored by the College Sports Communicators with a 25-Year Award in 2013.
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Tom Schott – Purdue University
Purdue University, Director of Executive Communications (Marketing and Communications Office)
formerly Senior Associate Athletic Director, Strategic Communications (Purdue Athletics)
Tom Schott worked for the Purdue University athletics department from 1990 to 2019, rising from a graduate intern to senior associate athletics director for communications. He has authored or co-authored four books about the Boilermakers, including
100 Things Purdue Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die.
Schott joined Purdue University marketing and communications office in 2020 - first as senior director of strategic communications. He now serves as director of executive communications.
While in athletics, he successfully elevated the Purdue brand, the student-athletes and coaches of the Boilermakers on the national stage, especially in an age when information was not always easily available at the click of a button.
Schott was actively involved in CSC (CoSIDA) during his career. A member of the Academic All-America® Committee, he also assisted with the (former) Publication Awards (now Creative and Digital Design Awards) and Fred S. Stabley Sr. Writing Contest. Schott received a 25-Year Award from CSC in 2016. He has won numerous CSC publications awards, including three Best in the Nation honors.
Schott serves as a board member of the Joe Tiller/Northwest Indiana Chapter of the National Football Foundation. He previously received the Helping Hand Award from the Indiana Sportscasters Association, and also was awarded the Scoop Hudgins Outstanding SID Award by the All-American Football Association.
He got his start in sports journalism at age 12 when he co-founded his own magazine called The Redbird Chirps, interviewing nearly 100 Major League Baseball players, managers, coaches, and broadcasters from 1981 to 1986.
A native of St. Louis, Schott has been a contributing writer for the Cardinals media guide, magazine, Hall of Fame induction program and website (
Cardinals.com).
He co-authored
The Giants Encyclopedia, a history of the New York and San Francisco Giants franchise published in 1999, and
The Giants Encyclopedia: Second Edition, published in 2003. Schott also has written for the Giants website (SFGiants.com), Atlanta Braves media guide and website (Braves.com), and National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum website (BaseballHall.org).
25-Year Award Recipients
Congratulations to the following group of athletic communications professionals who have reached the quarter century of service to the profession!
Following this week's announcements of our CSC 2024 awards, CSC will highlight all recipients throughout the spring with special individualized content and social media recognitions and honor them in person during the June CSC UNITE24 convention in Las Vegas (June 9-12).
25-Year Award
Presented to CSC members who have completed 25 years in the athletics commiunication profession (as of July, 2024).
Vetted and voted on by the Special Awards Committee.
How do I calculate my 25-year service to CSC?
To receive a 25-year award at the CSC UNITE convention, you must have been in the sports information profession full time and/or an active member of the organization for 25 years, at the time of the annual June convention. Your 25-year total must be met by July 1. Thus if you started full time work as of July 1, 1999, your 25 years would be completed in June of 2024 and you would receive the award this academic year — and be saluted leading up to the 2024 convention. If you started in October of 1999, you would complete 25 years in September, 2024 and would receive your award at the 2025 convention.
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Rob Anderson
Creighton University
Sports Information Director
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Todd Anderson
Mercer University
Assistant Athletic Director/Media Relations
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Gene Cassell
Washburn University
Assistant Athletic Director for Communications
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Natalie Davis
Copiah-Lincoln Community College
Sports Information Director
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Greg Hotchkiss
Central Michigan University
Associate Athletic Director for Communications
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Jason Hove
South Dakota State University
Assistant Athletic Director - Athletic Communications
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Bryan Johnston
Georgia Southern University
Senior Associate Athletics Director, Communications
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Jeremy Kniffin
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges
Director of Athletic Communications
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Brian Lucas
University of Wisconsin
Director, Marketing and Communications, Department of Surgery
(Formerly Director of Football Brand Communications)
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Chris Masters
University of Illinois Chicago (UIC)
Senior Associate Athletics Director - External Operations
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Jim Miller
Tusculum University
Associate Director of Athletic Communications
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Sean Palchick
University of Akron
Associate Director, Athletics Communications and Marketing
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Jay Stancil
Appalachian Athletic Conference
Assistant Commissioner for Championships and Information
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Phil Stanton
Randolph-Macon College
Assistant Director of Athletic Communications
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Hung Tsai
California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA)
Director of Championships
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Matt Turk
Long Beach State University
Associate Athletic Communications Director
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Jason Yellin
University of Maryland
Associate Athletic Director / Strategic Communications Officer
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