Florida State University Vice President for University Relations Lee Hinkle today announced the appointment of Scott Atwell as president of the university’s Alumni Association.
Atwell has served as the chief of staff in University Relations and as director of special projects over the past two years.
The Florida State University Alumni Association has 27,000 active members and serves 270,000 alumni worldwide.
“I have worked closely with Scott for many years now, and he has a solid track record of success,” said Hinkle. “He is exceptionally talented and has the will and ability to provide outstanding leadership for the Alumni Association.”
With extensive credentials that include a lengthy career in broadcasting, marketing and promotions, Atwell first joined the FSU administration in 1994 and directed its television and radio production operations.
He created the Visual Media and Promotions Department within the University Communications Division and served as its first director from 1998 to 2005.
“I have had the pleasure of working directly with Scott on several projects, and I believe he has the management skills, the people skills and the talent to help the Alumni Association grow and thrive,” said Reubin Askew, former Florida governor and currently Eminent Scholar at the university. A former student government president, Askew was a field secretary for the Alumni Association in the 1950s and was named Alumnus of the Century by former president Bernie Sliger.
In University Communications, Atwell managed a wide range of public affairs, marketing, and promotional opportunities, including alumni and academic internal publications and online web content. He has worked closely with FSU presidents, vice presidents and deans on strategic communications for the university, as well as with presidents of the Alumni Association, Foundation and Seminole Boosters. And he has produced, written, and directed several of Florida State’s institutional messages for national television broadcasts.
Atwell also managed FSU’s internal, university-wide communications during emergencies — such as hurricanes — relaying critical information to more than 50,000 faculty, staff and students and their friends and relatives.
In 1997, Atwell was the recipient of the university’s Gabor Superior Accomplishment Award for his writing and production of a two-and-a-half-hour documentary on the university’s history. In a series entitled “My Secret to Success,” Atwell traveled extensively, interviewing high-profile alumni throughout the country for the FSU Headlines show and other promotion pieces for the university and its Alumni Association.
Atwell also was the writer, producer and host for “The Credit Card Monster,” a nationally acclaimed video that offers sage advice to students trying to manage their credit while attending the university. “Scott has shown exceptional ability to work with students and alumni,” said Mary Coburn, vice president for Student Affairs.
The consummate innovator, Atwell was the co-creator and host in 1995 of the FSU Headlines Television Show, which continues to be broadcast statewide. He also was the co-creator in 1994 of the FSU Headlines radio program, which is still broadcast three times each weekday across northern Florida.
An accomplished speaker and presenter, Atwell has served as master of ceremonies for many of the university’s most important events, including the university’s celebration of its 150th anniversary in 2001.
A native of Key West, Atwell moved to Tallahassee in 1983 and worked as a graduate assistant to former Sports Information Director Wayne Hogan.
Later he would go on to become a sportscaster and the voice of the Seminoles for the CBS affiliate in Tallahassee, WCTV, where he quickly rose to the position of sports director. Atwell’s highly creative and often-humorous sportscasts became hugely popular and attracted sports fans and non-fans alike, and he became well known throughout the Tallahassee area and northern Florida.
Atwell also has served as a part-time adjunct faculty member in the College of Communication. In 2003 the Tallahassee chapter of the Florida Public Relations Association honored Atwell with its first-ever “Communicator of the Year Award.”