Beckman Institute Director of Communications Sue Johnson has been honored by the Public Affairs Office at the University of Illinois for her work on the IT Excellence Team.

Johnson and the other IT Excellence Team members were each presented with an Award for Communications and Marketing Excellence (ACME) at the fourth annual Public Affairs seminar, Brand U, Wednesday at the Business Instructional Facility on campus.

Beckman Institute Director Art Kramer was on hand for the presentation. Kramer said that Johnson “is a wonderful communications director – smart, creative, and hardworking.  Indeed, in addition to her work on the IT Excellence Team, Sue is developing new approaches for communicating the world class science and engineering research that takes place at the Beckman Institute.”

Johnson was part of the IT Excellence Team that was tasked with the mission of showcasing Illinois excellence to prospective students, faculty, funders, and donors, documenting its legacy of leadership in this area, and communicating its continued excellence in IT-related research, education, and outreach.  

Johnson and her fellow members each earned the Team Player award for their work on the IT Excellence Team, which seeks to communicate the many past and present groundbreaking discoveries and technology innovations at the University of Illinois. The IT Excellence website highlights those achievements, from LEDs to the first computer-mediated social network, to the many current groundbreaking discoveries.

The description for the award said this about the team members: “The collaboration that made the IT Excellence site possible also exemplifies Illinois values. The hallmark of this ongoing collaboration is that eleven people – from different units and different sides of Green Street – made a long-term commitment to tell the Illinois story in a compelling, inclusive, and trustworthy way.”