The Volunteer chapter of the Public Relations Society of America will recognize Chancellor Donde Plowman of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, as its communicator of the year Jan. 26, at an awards luncheon.
The event will be held 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the UT Conference Center in downtown Knoxville.
Tickets are $25 for PRSA members and students and $40 for guests and may be purchased at
volunteerprsa.org. A table for eight may be purchased for $275.
Plowman has served since 2019 as chancellor of UT Knoxville, the state's flagship land-grant research university. In that time she has overseen a 19 percent increase in enrollment, and the university has set new records in student retention, alumni giving, state support, and research expenditures.
Plowman oversees a campus budget of $1.9 billion as well as more than 36,000 students, nearly 7,000 staff, and more than 1,800 full-time faculty.
The Volunteer chapter of PRSA will also recognize Cole Pawlaczyk with its Ellen Liston Rising Young Professional Award and Drue Hamlet as its student communicator of the year, respectively.
Pawlaczyk is an intelligence strategist at Designsensory, a full-service agency in Knoxville. Pawlaczyk earned a Bachelor of Science degree in public relations from UT in December 2022 and transitioned to Designsensory the following month. His strong foundation in strategic research and data-driven approach has been instrumental in solving complex marketing and public relations challenges.
Hamlet, a New Jersey native, is a junior public relations major at UT, where she serves as vice president of the Sammie Lynn Puett chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America. She also is an intern in the UT Office of Communications & Marketing. Hamlet previously served as an anchor and scriptwriter for The Volunteer Channel at UT.
PRSA is the leading professional organization serving the communications community through a network of more than 400 professional and student chapters in the U.S., Argentina, Columbia, Peru, and Puerto Rico.
The Volunteer chapter of PRSA is represented by some of the most influential communicators in the greater Knoxville region. For more information, visit volunteerprsa.org.