May 12, 2009

CLEVELAND -- The Awards Committee of the International Collegiate Licensing Association (ICLA) has selected Liz Kennedy, previously with the University of Southern California and the USC Trademark Licensing Team, as the Synergy Award: Program of the Year. The Association also chose Judy Barnard of Oklahoma State as the 2009 Distinguished Service Award recipient.

The Synergy Award is given annually to an institution that has demonstrated extraordinary commitment to collegiate licensing over the course of the past year. The institution selects an individual to accept this award on behalf of the college/university, who has directly contributed to the betterment of the industry at his/her place of employment; has made significant contributions to the collegiate licensing industry through innovative or new ideas during the current academic year; has played a vital role on-campus/in the industry through his/her leadership; and has demonstrated teamwork/involvement from multiple components in the licensing process.

The Distinguished Service Award is awarded on a year-to-year basis to an individual that has a history of solid contributions to the licensing field as a pioneer/innovator over the course of his/her career or has made a dramatic impact in the industry in recent years. The winning individual must have worked in collegiate licensing or a related industry for a minimum of five years; be a retired licensing administrator or be currently employed in collegiate licensing and maintain current membership status in the Association.

Synergy Award: Program of the Year -- University of Southern California
Liz Kennedy served as the director of trademarks and licensing at the University of Southern California (USC), prior to becoming the Vice President of Corporate Responsibility for the Collegiate Licensing Company earlier this year. Her responsibilities included maintaining, licensing and marketing copyright, trademark, and service mark assets that encompass both sports and academic applications. Kennedy has experience with all aspects of the licensing process ranging from, but not limited to, brand identity, graphic design and license selection, corporate responsibility and compliance, quality control, anti-counterfeiting and contract negotiations. During her tenure at USC, royalties grew significantly, and USC sustained and/or exceeded these gains. Kennedy has served as the author and editor of several publications dealing with collegiate licensing topics for both licensors and licensees. Kennedy is a Past President of the Association of Collegiate Licensing Administrators (ACLA). Other professional affiliations for which she has held leadership positions are the Western Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition and the university caucus of the Fair Labor Association.

Distinguished Service Award
With the development of collegiate licensing in the early 1980s, Judy Barnard began her career in this emerging field at Oklahoma State University in 1985. Barnard has been a strong advocate of licensing associations from the beginning, serving a two-year term on the Association of Collegiate Licensing Administrators (ACLA) membership committee. She was a founding board member of the National Collegiate Licensing Association (NCLA) before serving as an officer beginning in 1998. In 2001-02, Barnard served as the NCLA’s last president and participated in the negotiations to consolidate ACLA and NCLA to the International Collegiate Licensing Association (ICLA) in 2002-03. At its first ICLA meeting, Judy was presented with the ICLA Licensing Director of the Year award. Barnard has participated in numerous presentations, served on various organizational committees and assisted in task force committees. She created the OSU crafter’s licensing program to showcase Oklahoma crafts persons. She has assisted in several unique projects such as an OSU tartan and a Pistol Pete/OSU Cowgirl doll created by the Madame Alexander Doll Company. In conjunction with the University of Oklahoma, Barnard was instrumental in one of the first and most successful rival programs in the country, The Bedlam Series.

About ICLA: ICLA provides educational and networking opportunities, enhancement of acceptable operating standards and ethics, and establishment of the overall prestige and understanding of the profession of collegiate licensing. For more information on ICLA, please visit www.iclanet.com. ICLA is administered by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA), which is in its 44th year. For more information on NACDA and the 11 professional associations that fall under its umbrella, please visit www.nacda.com.