04-15-11

John Arends named Greenlee School's 2011 Schwartz Award recipient

AMES, Iowa -- John Arends, president and CEO of Arends, Inc., a marketing agency founded by his father Don Arends -- a 1990 James W. Schwartz Award honoree -- has been chosen as the 2011 winner of the same award representing Iowa State University's highest honor for contributions in journalism and mass communication.

The faculty of the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication voted to give Arends the prestigious honor earlier this month. Arends will be presented the award during homecoming activities on Friday, Oct. 21, in Hamilton Hall.

Michael Bugeja, director of the school, said, "I have had the privilege of knowing John and Don Arends, both of whom not only have enjoyed prosperous careers as journalists and practitioners but who also have been role models for us in the area of service."

Like his father, John Arends has served as a member of the Greenlee Advisory Council, which he considers one of his most important contributions, helping to guide the School to prominence with other esteemed members.

"Sitting at the same table with so many incredibly smart, talented, accomplished professionals -- Michael Bugeja, Bob Greenlee, other Schwartz Award winners Lou Thompson, Bill Monroe, and Chris Adams -- has been a wonderful experience," Arends said upon learning that he won the award.

The Schwartz Award is named for James Schwartz, chair of ISU's journalism department from 1965 to 1977. Award recipients include four Pulitzer Prize winners, distinguished broadcast journalists, authors, advertising and public relations executives, newspaper and magazine publishers, and leading writers in a variety of specialty areas.

Originally from LaGrange, Ill., Arends earned a journalism degree at Iowa State in 1977. In 2010, he produced a staged reading of his screenplay about ISU football icon Jack Trice. Arends also was a Cyclone athlete. He was a member of the men's gymnastics team, which won the NCAA championship in 1974, and served as team captain his senior year.

After graduation, Arends worked for the Iowa Development Commission, first as editor of the commission's newsletter, and then as public information director. During this time, Arends helped establish the Iowa Film Commission and served as editor-in-chief of the book Iowa, "IOWA," The American Heartland, featuring an introduction by Hugh Sidey -- former Washington bureau chief for Time Magazine and the Greenlee School's first Schwartz Award winner in 1978.

Arends also contributed to The Des Moines Register and Newsweek.

Arends lives in Saint Charles, Ill., with his wife of 33 years, Anne (Butler) Arends, of Decorah, Iowa. All three of their children -- Katharine, Allison and Dave -- have attended Iowa State University. Last year, the family was honored by the ISU Parents Association as the 2010 Cyclone Family of the Year.

Previous winners of the Schwartz Award include Roy Reiman, founder of Reiman Publications; Terry Anderson, former Associated Press Middle East bureau chief; Kevin and Mollie Cooney, KCCI-TV anchors and reporters; Herb Plambeck, America's first full-time farm broadcaster; Karol DeWulf Nickell, former editor of Better Homes and Gardens, and Christine Romans (1993), Emmy Award-winning journalist, financial news reporter and anchor for CNN.

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