May 31, 2005

Cleveland, Ohio -- The Awards Committee of the International Collegiate Licensing Association (ICLA) have selected their annual award recipients.

Those being honored include Craig Westemeier of the University of Texas with the Synergy Award: Program of the Year; Bruce Siegal of The Collegiate Licensing Company and Rick Van Brimmer of Ohio State University with Distinguished Service Awards; and Sue Anne Chen of the University of Washington and Frank Cuervo of the University of Missouri with Gold Star Awards.

Award winners will be recognized at ICLA's Third Annual Convention, June 15-18 at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.

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.

ICLA is administered by NACDA, which is now in its 40th year. NACDA serves as the professional and educational association for more than 6,100 college athletics directors, associates, assistants and conference commissioners at more than 1,600 institutions throughout the United States, Mexico and Canada. Through its series of management seminars, clinics and workshops and publication of the bi-monthly magazine Athletics Administration, NACDA offers educational opportunities to its members. More than 2,000 athletics administrators annually attend the NACDA Convention. Additionally, the Association operates the Sports Academy Directors' Cup program, which honors the all-sports champion in each of the NCAA Divisions -- I, II, III -- and the NAIA, for a total of four trophies.

A brief biographical sketch of each of the award recipients follows:

Synergy Award: Program of the Year
Craig Westemeier, University of Texas
Craig Westemeier was promoted to director of trademark licensing at the University of Texas in 2000. Prior to his promotion, Westemeier began serving as the assistant to the director in 1998. Under Westemeier's guidance, the Texas trademark licensing program has more than tripled its annual licensing revenue and earned a number two ranking among Collegiate Licensing Company (CLC) clients. Westemeier established and maintained strong working relationships externally with licensees, alumni, student groups and retailers. He built a strong team of supporters that have enabled him to successfully integrate the functions of the athletics department, CLC and the Longhorn Sports Network. Westemeier serves on ICLA's Board of Directors and the university's Advisory Council Executive Committee to FLA. Other staff members contributing to the department's success are Patricia Ohlendorf, vice president for institutional relations and legal affairs; Martita Huntress, senior administrative associate; Chris Plonsky, women's athletics director and director of external services; Scott Willingham, vice president, general manager, Longhorn Sports Network; and Tara Huntress, account executive, Longhorn Sports Network.

Distinguished Service Award
Bruce Siegal, The Collegiate Licensing Company
Bruce Siegal is the senior vice president and general counsel at The Collegiate Licensing Company. He manages and oversees the legal activities for CLC, which administers the trademark licensing programs for 200 colleges, universities, conferences and bowl games; the NCAA; and the Heisman Trophy. His leadership in the development of trademark protection and enforcement programs for colleges has established a legal foundation, protecting each institution's licensing rights. Serving the industry for close to 20 years, he is an industry leader, organizing and chairing the Legal Advisory Council for the Association of Collegiate Licensing Administrators (ACLA) and serving on the board for the International Trademark Association and the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition. He has worked to ensure that licensed products are produced under fair labor conditions. He is an executive committee member of the FLA University Advisory Council. He has published several articles on trademark and licensing issues and has appeared on several television shows. Siegel has also received the ACLA's Gold Star Award for contributions to the organization.

Distinguished Service Award
Rick Van Brimmer, Ohio State University
Rick Van Brimmer joined the Ohio State University trademark and licensing services office in 1990 and currently serves as the director. Van Brimmer oversees Ohio State's international licensing program, which averages close to $5 million in annual royalties. His desire to seek innovative revenue streams has led to the licensing of the Buckeye Hall of Fame Café, the first licensing collegiate-themed restaurant in the country; and the creation of the Treasury of Fine Art licensing program to showcase Ohio State's extensive special collections libraries. He is responsible for the strategic brand management of Ohio State's commercial and entrepreneurial endeavors. He oversees a staff of four that manages OSU's 500 licensees. Van Brimmer was the only two-time elected president of ACLA and was the 1997 recipient of Ohio State's Distinguished Staff Award, the highest non-teaching honor awarded by the university. He currently serves as a collegiate representative on the FLA board of directors and has previously served as the ICLA representative to the FLA's University Advisory Council executive committee.

Gold Star Award
Sue Anne Chen, University of Washington
Sue Anne Chen is the assistant to the director of trademarks and licensing at the University of Washington. During her six-year tenure, she has served on various committees including the FLA Small Licensees Subcommittee and the National Collegiate Licensing Association Awards Commit-tee. Awarded the ACLA Gold Star in 2001, Chen has since created innovative opportunities for Washington and its buyers and licensees, as well as universities in the region through participation in the Seattle Gift Show. Using her retail background, Chen strives to develop strong relationships between both licensees and buyers to provide the highest quality and most innovative products to the university's faithful.

Gold Star Award
Frank Cuervo, University of Missouri
Joining the University of Missouri athletics department as the director of marketing and promotions in 2001, Frank Cuervo serves as the primary liaison between the department of athletics and the Mizzou Licensing and Trademark program. Cuervo's support of and ability to work with the Mizzou licensing office to protect and promote the university's marks have resulted in visionary promotional concepts in conjunction with Mizzou Sports Properties. He administers the Tiger Team Store, oversees the marketing and advertising efforts of the Mizzou athletics department and supervises the marketing staff in game-day promotions. He has increased gross sales at the Tiger Team Store from $550,000 during the 2001-02 academic year to $1.35 million in 2003-04. Prior to joining the Mizzou athletics department, Cuervo served in the areas of marketing, promotions and communications at Bowling Green, Ohio State and Florida.