Toronto, Ontario - Jeff Nicholls, Ridgeway, Ontario, is the 2007 winner of the first Lou Cahill Scholarship in Communications, awarded by Brock University, St. Catharines. The Scholarship is awarded to a communications student in the final year of study for academic excellence, community involvement and participation in charitable activities. The Scholarship was established by OEB Enterprise, Toronto, to honour Lou Cahill, the founder of OEB International, Canada’s longest operating public relations firm and a subsidiary of the Enterprise Canada Group. In his early 90s, Lou Cahill is an icon in the Canadian public relations industry and continues to act as a mentor to the staff of OEB on a regular basis.

“We are delighted that Jeff Nicholls is the first recipient of the Lou Cahill Scholarship in Communications. Jeff exemplifies the values of academic excellence, commitment to community and voluntarism that are so important to Lou and to this company,” Barbara Fox, OEB Enterprise President and Chief Executive Officer, said.

Mr. Nicholls was the recipient of a number of awards including the Distinguished Graduating Student Award and the Bohdan Szuchewycz Prize in Communications Studies. He was also a member of the winning team in this year’s Terry O’Malley Advertising Competition. He holds the highest grade average over his four years in the Communications, Popular Culture and Film Studies Program.

He has served as President of the Brock University Communications, Popular Culture and Film Society, overseeing finance, advertising, fundraising, membership recruitment and community service for the Society. He founded the 24hour film project, an annual event in 2007 that featured 11 films and over 200 guests. Nicholls has also served as a volunteer in a public relations capacity with Wellspring Niagara where he developed a two day campus wide fundraiser, Wishing Well for Wellspring, a cancer treatment center. He has also served as a public relations/marketing assistant for ‘dream’, a nonprofit student mentoring foundation in Dunnville, Ontario.

“Jeff responded to the demanding pace of an organization in launch mode with great enthusiasm and professionalism”, said Colleen Pielechaty, ‘dream’ development consultant. “He provided communications and fundraising support to a unique cultural exchange program between the youth of Dunnville, Ontario and Ek Balam, Mexico.”

He will be working with Niagara Public Works following graduation and, for the summer, will be working as Information and Public Relations Assistant for the Niagara Region.

Lou Cahill holds an honorary doctoral degree from Brock University and has been the recipient of the Canadian Public Relations Society (CPRS) Philip A. Novikoff Award for advancing the public relations profession. He was appointed to the CPRS College of Fellows in 2000.

The Lou Cahill Scholarship monies are managed by the Communications and Public Relations Foundation. The Foundation promotes the advancement of communications and public relations as vital functions in society, is dedicated to the public interest, and is committed to increasing public knowledge and awareness of the role of communications and public relations in daily life. The Foundation accepts individual and corporate contributions towards research and educational initiatives nationwide.

Applications for the annual Lou Cahill Scholarship in Communications, valued at $1,250 for eligible graduating students from the Department of Communications, Popular Culture and Film at Brock University, are available from the University’s Student Awards and Financial Aid Office.

For more information about the Foundation and its public relations educational initiatives, contact:

Barbara Sheffield,
Chair, Communications and Public Relations Foundation,
Suite 1515, 73 Widdicombe Hill Blvd.,
Toronto, Ontario, M9R 4B3, or
phone 416-242-6146 or
email foundation@prmediaconnection.com.

Contacts:

Barbara Sheffield, APR, Fellow CPRS
(416) 242-6146
foundation@prmediaconnection.com

Jeffrey Sinibaldi
Brock University
(905) 688-5550, ext. 4687
Jeffrey.Sinibaldi@brocku.ca

For more information about the Scholarship, please visit:
www.brocku.ca/safa/scholarship.html

This entry was posted on Monday, July 16th, 2007 at 2:59 pm and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.