2009 Alumni Awards and Gala (from left to right): Davis Knox, Dean Robert T. Sumichrast, John F. McMullan, Kessel D. Stelling and Andy Barksdale, in Atlanta on April 25, 2009.

• 2009 Winners
• 2008 Winners
• 2007 Winners
• 2006 Winners
• 2005 Winners
• 2004 Winners
• 2003 Winners

Past Award Recipients

View Past Alumni Award Winners (PDF | 34 KB)

About the Award

The Alumni Awards keepsake is a handcrafted glass vase by artist Paul Bendzunas. Introduced as the Terry College's Alumni Award in 2002, the handblown pieces are formed from molten glass using a five-foot-long stainless steel pipe. Each one-of-a-kind glass vase is signed and dated by the artist.

A native of Oswego, N.Y., Bendzunas attended the University of Georgia from 1971 to 1975, where he majored in art education and minored in sculpture. After graduation, he studied glass art at the Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina and continued to teach himself — making his own equipment, developing his colors and refining his forms. Paul and Barbara Bendzunas now own and operate a studio in the small northeast Georgia town of Comer.

View Profile of Paul Bendzunas, Glassblower & UGA Alum (video)