Local angles: Bedford, N.Y.; Haverford, Pa.

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Vick gives $100,000 to create award for innovation in journalism-mass communication teaching

BY ZACH HOSKINS
UNC School of Journalism and Mass Communication

CHAPEL HILL -- Alumnus Edward Vick has given $100,000 to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Journalism and Mass Communication to establish an award recognizing innovative teachers.

Vick, of Bedford, N.Y., is the retired chairman of the worldwide marketing communications firm Young & Rubicam. He graduated from the UNC school in 1966 and was inducted into the N.C. Advertising Hall of Fame, which is based at the school, in 1996.

The school will present the first Edward Vick Prize for Innovation in Teaching, a $5,000 annual award, to one of its full-time faculty members next April. The prize will go to the teacher whose creativity and innovation during the previous academic year most meaningfully enhanced students' learning experience.

"While the effect on the world of one good student can be substantial, the impact of one great teacher is multiplied by every student he or she touches," Vick said. "I wanted to do something that might in some small way further encourage teachers to raise their own bar, both for themselves and for their students."

The gift counts toward the Carolina First campaign goal of $1.8 billion. Carolina First is a multi-year, private fund-raising campaign to support Carolina's vision of becoming the nation's leading public university.

"This award is itself an innovation," said Dr. Richard Cole, school dean. "Lots of teaching-excellence awards exist, but this one is for creating one or more innovations that improve teaching broadly."

Vick said the school is a fitting home for an innovative teaching award.

"Richard Cole has taken a small and somewhat narrowly focused journalism school and transformed it into a vibrant, broad-based educational institution that is a powerhouse both within the UNC community and on a national level," he said.

Vick grew up in Haverford, Pa., outside Philadelphia. "My Dad, grandfather, great-grandfather and probably even great-great-grandfather attended UNC, as they all lived in North Carolina," he said.

Upon his retirement in 2001, Vick was recognized as one of the most creative, innovative executives in the advertising world. He gained a reputation as a passionate leader and team builder who could turn around ailing creative organizations and propel them to growth and prominence.

"I spent my career in a business that puts a high premium on ideas, creativity and innovation," Vick said. "I have myself been involved in many forms of innovation, both within my own companies and within my clients' companies.

"None of it would have happened for me without UNC and what was then called the School of Journalism," he said. "I came to UNC young and without direction. I left more mature, well prepared and with a good idea of where I wanted to go. What more could any kid ask?"

Before starting his business career, Vick was a Naval officer, spending two years in Vietnam commanding River Patrol Boats. He earned two Bronze Star Medals, the Presidential Unit Citation and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry. A Vietnam veterans’ association recently published his memoir, "Slingshot." All the book’s profits will be donated, half to the association and half to the Bedford police and fire departments.

Vick has worked with several of the world's leading ad agencies. He began his career at Benton & Bowles and later was senior vice president of Ogilvy & Mather. He went on to become president and chief operating officer of both Ammirati & Puris and Levine, Huntley, Vick and Beaver.

Vick joined Young & Rubicam in 1992 as president and chief executive officer of Landor Associates, the company’s corporate identity and design firm. From 1994 to 1996, Vick was president and chief executive officer of Young & Rubicam New York, the company’s largest operating unit in advertising. He became chairman and chief executive officer of the worldwide ad company in 1996.

The parent company, Young & Rubicam Inc., made Vick its chief operating officer in 1997; co-chairman, with Peter Georgescu, in August 1999; and chairman in December 1999.

"I spent 30 years in marketing communications, dealing with a wide array of American and global companies," Vick said. "The companies, and the people, who were smart, energetic and hard working, and who were hell-bent to find a better way, were invariably the ones who came out winners."

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Photo url: http://www.unc.edu/news/pics/alum/vick_edward.jpg

Contact: Zach Hoskins, (919) 966-3323, zhoskins@email.unc.edu
News Services contact: L.J. Toler, (919) 962-8589, laura_toler@unc.edu