2009
Harry Kolcum Honorees: Jessica Rye and Scott Harris
Click here to view photos of this year's Kolcum Lucheon (more photos to come).
Jessica Rye currently serves as the Senior Manager of Regional Communications for ATK responsible for all aspects of communications in both Florida and Alabama. Prior to joining ATK, Jessica served as the Chief of External and Internal Communications for United Launch Alliance (ULA), the recently formed company that brought together The Boeing Company’s Delta Programs and Lockheed Martin’s Atlas Programs to provide expendable launch vehicles for U.S. government missions.
Before joining ULA, Jessica served as NASA’s primary spokesperson and public affairs officer for the Space Shuttle Program at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC). At KSC, she disseminated information to worldwide news media organizations about the multifaceted programs at NASA and KSC. She produced print and video news releases and developed media plans to increase public awareness of NASA’s achievements. In support of NASA TV, Jessica moderated news conferences and provided live commentary for televised launch and ground control activities. Prior to joining NASA, Jessica served as strategic media relations specialist for United Space Alliance where she was responsible for media relations for the Company in Florida, leveraging her extensive experience with national and international media outlets to ensure positive placements and positioning of company messages.
Jessica earned a Bachelors of Science degree in Public Relations from Florida State University and obtained her Accreditation in Public Relations in 2001. Since 1999, Jessica has been an active member of the Florida Public Relations Association and served as the State President of the nearly 1,500 member organization in 2007. She served as the Vice President of Accreditation and Certification in 2004; Vice President of Finance on the Executive Committee in 2002; and President of the Space Coast Chapter of FPRA in 2001. Jessica received the 2009 PR Professional of the Year award from the Space Coast Chapter of FPRA and was the recipient of the 2000 Member of the Year Award.
A political reporter with a solid news background,
Scott Harris has worked in Central Florida during his entire career as a broadcast journalist and played a significant role in launching News 13.
His news concentration includes covering government and politics here at home and across the state and country. His knowledge of the local area and people gives viewers a valuable perspective. As News 13’s political expert and anchor of the weekly political show “The Agenda,” Scott’s interview range from local mayors to national political figures. “The Agenda” concentrates on discussions and in-depth interviews with local leaders on key issues impacting Central Floridians.
When not covering the political arena, Scott is reporting from a different world at the Kennedy Space Center for NASA coverage. His knowledge and depth of NASA and the space shuttle program provide News 13 with exclusive information, essential background information and an endless amount of contacts.
Scott was born in Providence, RI, spent his early years in and around New York City, and moved to Central Florida with his family in 1962. He graduated from Florida Technological University (known now as UCF) with a bachelor's degree in Communication. He is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force.
About the Kolcum Award
The National Space NSCFL Florida Committee each year recognizes area
representatives of the news media and communications professions for excellence
in their ability to communicate the space story along Florida's Space Coast and
throughout the world.
The award is named in honor of Harry Kolcum, the former managing editor of
Aviation Week & Space Technology, who was Cape bureau chief from 1980 to 1993
prior to his death in 1994. Kolcum was a founding member of the National Space
NSCFL Florida Committee.
Nomination and Selection Guidelines
- The nominee must have been either:
A professional member of the news media who regularly covered space and launch operations in Florida for print, radio, television or online media organizations.
or
A public affairs professional who spoke on behalf of a corporate, government, or military organization involved with launch or mission operations in Florida.
- The nominee must have facilitated and/or communicated the story of space to the general public within the state of Florida, as well as throughout the nation and the world.
- The nominee must have been primarily based in Florida.
Submit a written nomination for the Kolcum Award to either:
The National Space Club Florida
PO Box 21243
Kennedy Space Center, Florida 32815-0243
or
info@nscfl.org
Past Kolcum Award Recipients
2000 Howard Benedict and Jack King
Benedict
earned the media award for his long career as an
aerospace writer for the Associated Press. King won the public affairs honor for
his work with NASA as the "Voice of Apollo."
2001 Dan Billow and Hugh Harris
Billow earned the media award as
space reporter for NBC affiliate WESH-TV in Orlando. Harris was recognized for
his long career with NASA public affairs, which included providing commentary
for many shuttle launches.
2002 Pat Duggins, Lisa Malone and Lt. Col. Michael Rein
Duggins earned the media award as news director of Orlando public radio
station WMFE-FM and is considered National Public Radio's resident "NASA
expert." Malone won for her work with NASA public affairs, including being the
first female "Voice of Shuttle Launch Control." Rein was recognized for his work
as public affairs chief for the 45th Space Wing during the difficult times
following Sept. 11, 2001.
2003 Kolcum Honorees
2003 Julie Andrews
Andrews is communications manager for the Lockheed Martin Space
Systems Company at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Andrews began her career
with General Dynamics in 1980 as a technical writer/editor and then worked for
Martin Marietta and Lockheed Martin. From 1995 to 2000 Andrews was director of
Public Affairs for International Launch Services. She was assigned to the Cape
in 2000. Andrews is a graduate of Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, Minn.,
with a B.A. in English. She and her husband Patrick live in Merritt Island.
2003 William Harwood
Harwood is senior space consultant for CBS News based at
Cape Canaveral. He also covers space exploration and astronomy for The
Washington Post and Astronomy Now magazine. Harwood covered STS-2 in 1981 as a
student journalist. In 1982 he joined United Press International as a reporter
based in Columbia, S.C. He was named UPI's Cape Canaveral bureau chief in 1984
and then joined CBS in 1992. Harwood is a graduate of the University of
Tennessee with a B.A. in Journalism. He lives in Merritt Island with his wife
and two children.
2004 George Diller NASA/PAO and Todd Halvorson Florida Today
2005 Craig Covault Aviation Week and STS-114 RTF Team KSC, FL
2006 Red Huber
Red Huber is a Senior Photographer for the Orlando Sentinel, with some 35 years
of experience. He has covered space operations at Cape Canaveral for more than
two decades, documenting more than 100 launches. His work has appeared in
National Geographic, Time, nationally published books, newspapers and websites
around the world.
2006 Debbie Land
Debbie Land is General Manager of the Astronaut Hall of Fame working for
Delaware North. She joined the company in 1998 and worked in marketing, managing
many major events that helped bring the excitement of spaceflight to the general
public. Prior to joining Delaware North she was marketing manager for US Space
Camp Florida and the Astronaut Hall of Fame.
2007 Babs Angel USAF 45th Space Wing
Baerbel ‘Babs’
Angel, recently retired with over 26 years as a civil servant, has served as a
professional communicator at the
Space
Coast
since 1994. Born in Meldorf/Holstein in Northern Germany, Angel began her
professional career in her home country of
Germany
. Angel graduated from Sprachen Institut Kuenster in
Koblenz,
Germany
, where she majored in English and French.
Early in her career Angel worked for the U.S. Military School at Hahn AFB in Bad
Kreuznach and
Mainz.
In 1969, she married John Angel and immigrated to the
U.S.
The Angel’s have two children, Glenn Peter and
Christiane. Angel began her civil servant
career at the
name
American
name
Hohenfels
Elementary school
in 1979. In 1987 she become a public affairs professional in
Wuerzburg,
Germany
. Angel and her family moved to
Titusville in 1994, where she continued in
the public affairs profession at Patrick AFB. She served in the capacity of
Chief, Community Outreach for over 12 years and during that tenure also worked
for one year in Cape Canaveral AFB Public Affairs. While serving at the
Cape, Angel supported the media during launches.
2007 Joe Carrroll WCPX/WKMG TV
Joe Carroll has worked almost 40 years as a professional video journalist. Raised on a small farm near the
Badlands of North Dakota, Carroll joined the Marine Corps following high school
graduation and specialized in Aerial Photo Reconnaissance serving 4 years plus
an additional 2 years as an active reservist. Following his military service he
attended
name
Loyola
type
University in
New Orleans
and then apprenticed one year under
New
Orleans’ Master Photographer Leon Trice, specializing in
Architectural Photography. Carroll began his professional career with WWL-TV as
a film news photojournalist/editor where he was awarded “Best News Cameraman”
for the Louisiana/Mississippi area. During his tenure at WWL, he documented
NORAD’s Cheyenne Mountain Complex,
name
White
name
Sands
name
Missile
Range
and many Michoud events. Carroll then worked for the next 13 years with the
Atlanta bureau of the CBS network covering every major news event between
West Virginia and South America including both
shores of the Florida Straits during the Mariel Boatlift from
Cuba
. For the past 22 years he has been with
WCPX/WKMG TV and was awarded the “Best News Cameraman” for
Central Florida. Carroll was the videographer for the WKMG Emmy
Award series “Behind the Lines” on
Kuwait
,
Iraq
and
Bahrain
and he also covered the 1991 Soviet Coup. His first on-site lift-off was Apollo
11 serving as a member of Walter Cronkite’s crew and he has covered most of the
U.S.
manned launches since then. Married to Mary Ann, an independent video producer,
the Carroll’s have four children Joe, Marisa, Jean Marie Schmidt and Nicole
Keating.
2008 Justin Ray
Justin Ray is editor of Spaceflight Now, an online website based at Cape
Canaveral that has documented U.S. and international space news since 1999. Prior to that, Justin worked for two years as an aerospace reporter at the Florida Today newspaper. He began his career as an intern at Patrick Air Force Base's public affairs office in 1996 and wrote for the Missileer base newspaper. The Ohio native has covered more than 100 Delta rocket launches, more than 65 Atlas flights, more than 50 space shuttle missions and the International Space Station program, plus scientific spacecraft such as the Mars rovers and Cassini. He attended college at the University of Central Florida and now resides in Viera.
2008 Leigh Holt
Beginning her tenure with the County in 2001, Leigh has coordinated several planning initiatives including Brevard Tomorrow, Together in Partnership, Commission on Aging, Commission on Mental Health, and the Persons with Disabilities Project. Leigh relocated to Brevard with her family in February, 1998 and worked at United Way where she led their first community planning effort. Leigh graduated from Mission Viejo High in Southern California, received her BS in Journalism from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona, and earned an MBA from the University of Dallas in Texas. She has been recognized for her community planning efforts by Junior Achievement, the U.S. Department of Justice, and Boston University where she was selected as a Join Together Fellow in 1993. Leigh’s interest in political advocacy began after she and her husband, Ken, became foster parents and adopted Tina and Raul. Over the last ten years, she has worked to improve Florida’s child welfare system and currently serves on the board of Community Based Care of Brevard.