For press information, contact Gabrielle Maxey, 901/678-2843

The University of Memphis Journalism Alumni Club will honor three individuals at its annual awards dinner Thursday, Nov. 5, at The Racquet Club of Memphis. The club will present Kini Kedigh Plumlee and David Waters with the Charles E. Thornton Outstanding Alumni Award, and Jerry Klein will receive the Herbert Lee Williams Award.

A reception will begin at 6 p.m., with the dinner following at 7. Tickets are $50 per person or $375 for a table of eight. The deadline for reservations is Oct. 30.

For reservations or more information, call Alumni Coordinator Fariss Adams Ivey at 901-678-4373. 

Kini Kedigh Plumlee

Plumlee was the first female editor of the U of M’s Daily Helmsman.  As a member of the newspaper’s staff, Plumlee interviewed Congressman and presidential candidate Mo Udall, Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, comedy duo Cheech and Chong, and musician Barry Manilow

David Waters

Waters worked at The Commercial Appeal for 27 years, advancing from bureau reporter to copy editor, wire editor, and associate editor, and covering everything from education to politics to religion. He was the “Faith Matters” columnist for nine years, exploring the ways faith matters to Memphians, not only once a week during worship services but in their everyday lives. Among his many honors, Waters was named Scripps Howard Headline Writer of the Year and Column Writer of the Year, and he was inducted into the Scripps Howard Editorial Hall of Fame. He won the Wilbur Award for best newspaper column and was a finalist twice for the Religion Writer of the Year award from the Religion Newswriters Association. While at The Commercial Appeal, Waters created and led The Commercial Appeal Writing Fellowship, an on-the-job development program for writers and editors, and he was co-creator of a Journalism Academy.

Jerry Klein

The Charles E. Thornton Award is named for a Memphis journalist who was killed while on assignment in Afghanistan in 1985. The Herbert L. Williams Award is named for the U of M Journalism Department’s founding chair.