Wellington Named AEJMC Magazine Division “Magazine Professional of the Year”

Wellington Named AEJMC Magazine Division “Magazine Professional of the Year” - First it was the magazine now it is the publisher of the magazine who is receiving the honors of being named by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication’s Magazine Division as the 2010 Magazine Professional of the Year. Ted Spiker, professor of journalism at the University of Florida and current head of the Magazine Division made the announcement this morning. What follows is the Magazine Division’s press release:

Vicki Wellington, publisher of Food Network Magazine, was named the 2010 Magazine Professional of the Year by the AEJMC Magazine Division.

Wellington will accept her award at the annual AEJMC convention in Denver in August. On Thursday, Aug. 5, she will make a featured presentation, “Ensuring a Print Future in a Digital Age.”

In October 2009, Food Network Magazine was named Ad Age’s A-List Launch of the Year. In its launch year, the magazine tripled its rate base to 1.25 million. Food Network Magazine is already one of the 100 best-selling American magazines on the newsstand.

The honor was announced by the Division’s Immediate Past Head Dr. Dane Claussen, who chaired the selection process, and by Prof. Ted Spiker, the Division’s current Head. Dr. Samir Husni, director of the Magazine Innovation Center, nominated Wellington.

“When you consider what a success Food Network Magazine has been—especially during a challenging time for the media industry—then you can see why Vicki is well-deserving of this honor,” Spiker said. “And we’re thrilled that she’s going to share her vision of the future of magazines with us in Denver.”

Food Network Magazine is launched as a joint venture of Hearst Magazines and the Food Network in October 2008. Wellington had been publisher of CosmoGirl since February 2008. Prior to joining Hearst Magazines, Wellington was the founding associate publisher of domino magazine.

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