Barry Mitzman

Soon Beng Yeap

The Gates Foundation has given Seattle University another gift—  this time to deepen journalists’ understanding of homelessness.

Gary Atkins, Communication Department chair, said in an e-mail Wednesday night that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation awarded professor Barry Mitzman $185,000 to start a new project on homelessness that will bring university students and professionals together.

Four professional journalists will receive fellowships, and eight Seattle U students will receive stipends to be research assistants, Atkins wrote.

The journalism fellows will hold workshops on homelessness at Seattle U, and the grant will also fund a public conference on family homelessness to be hosted at the university.

The award is the largest the Communication Department has ever received, according to Atkins.

Also of note: Mitzman and fellow professor Soon Beng Yeap—also the university’s assistant vice president of Marketing and Communications—were named joint “PR Professionals of the Year” Wednesday by the Puget Sound chapter of the Public Relations Society of America. The award was given for their work in opening Seattle U’s Center for Strategic Communications and for their work in the industry.

Mitzman came to Seattle U in 2007 from Microsoft, where he was director of strategic marketing. Yeap became an assistant vice president in July 2007. Previously, Yeap was the international communications and reputation management director at Starbucks and a senior vice president at Waggener Edstrom Worldwide.

Photos courtesy of Seattle University.