Troy University Design Professor Chris Stagl will be awarded the American Advertising Federation’s (AAF’s) Donald G. Hileman Award, which recognizes a college educator as the best in creative advertising.

The nominees came from creative disciplines from AAF’s District 7, which includes colleges and universities in Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Louisiana and Mississippi, with the AAF placing Stagl above all submitted educators from each of those states.

“I am completely shocked and honored to be recognized as the top creative educator in the Southeast U.S. for my efforts in creative teaching and service,” Stagl said. “I always tell my students that I am a reflection of the impact they make in the creative community. If this award means anything, it’s that they’re doing the hard work out there that I helped prepare them for in here.”

Recipients of the Hileman Award must teach at a two- or four-year institution of higher learning located in District 7. Recipients must have demonstrated outstanding service to advertising, District 7, a local advertising federation and college students through a student advertising team or student advertising club, and teaching of superior quality, or as many of these as the judges for the award deem appropriate. A person may receive the award only once at a particular school. If an educator moves to a different school within District 7, or changes jobs completely within the same school and achieves excellence there as well, they may be honored again in this new role.

Stagl is set to be awarded the Donald G. Hileman Award at the Regional AAF conference in Tuscaloosa on Saturday, May 16.

To learn more about this honor and view previous recipients, visit here.