Past JPC Alumni Award Recipients
- Bill Roth, 2021
Long-time Anchorage Daily News photographer Bill Roth was a student/athlete, member of the UAA alpine ski team, while earning a B.A. in Journalism and Public Communications in 1983.
Bill began his career at the ADN in 1984, roughly two decades before laptops and digital cameras became the norm. Back then, ADN processed black and white film by hand, used an enlarger to make photographic prints, then tapped out captions on a typewriter. ADN also used two-way radios to communicate while in the field.
While technology has certainly changed journalism, Bill maintains the job remains the same – documenting life and covering events that become a part of Alaska history.
Over the years, being a news photographer has allowed Bill the opportunity to meet people and to travel extensively around the state from covering the whale rescue in Barrow, to helicopter logging in Southeast, visiting the WWII battlegrounds on Attu Island, along with communities that serve as checkpoints along the historic Iditarod trail.
People sometimes ask Bill: What is your favorite assignment? Without question, Bill mentions the once in a lifetime opportunity to ride in a F-15 Eagle. In addition to this assignment, Bill was also part of the 1989 Pulitzer Prize Winning ADN team for public service reporting.
- Jennifer Schrage, 2020
Jennifer Schrage is the co-founder of Signature Land Services, a leading contracting service company specializing in snow removal, concrete and asphalt paving. Jennifer oversees major client relations, marketing and contract management.
Schrage is well-known for her community involvement. A lifelong Alaskan with deep roots in the Anchorage community, Jennifer earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism and public communications while a student-athlete on the cross-country ski team.
After 15 years of sales and marketing experience, coupled with 25 years of property management and real estate acquisitions, Jennifer and her husband Tim established Signature Land Services. She is an outdoor enthusiast and an active volunteer with a variety of organizations, including Covenant House Alaska, the Alaska Women’s Gold Nugget Triathlon and West Anchorage High School, supporting her two teenage sons. Additionally, she serves on the UA Foundation Board of Directors.