From the Nominator

"Usually, Brown Alumni Magazine's content is a broad mix of stories on wildly disparate topics under the general umbrella of "smart Brown-related people doing interesting things." For this special issue, we folded our popular alumni holiday gift guide into an issue that is all about food and drink but still as far-ranging otherwise as our usual content—we look at food and drink through the lenses of politics, science, health, technology, pedagogy, religion, culture, service, parenting, and more.  

We aimed to surprise our readers and delight them by giving them their beloved alumni magazine in a slightly different form, perhaps feeling even more like a newsstand magazine and less like an alumni publication than usual—yet broader in scope, more unexpected in approach, and deeper than a newsstand magazine would be.   

We always get letters thanking us for the gift guide, but this letter stood out—it's a great illustration of how the magazine can be a part of truly helpful and effective alumni networking:  

"So many thanks to you and everyone at the Brown Alumni Magazine for including my jewelry in your November/December issue. I got lots of orders, and it was also seen by the senior jewelry buyer for Uncommon Goods, a very cool B-Corp catalog company that features unique handmade work. They are going to carry several pieces of my jewelry, including the one you featured in the magazine. I’m thrilled! Thank you again for such a great opportunity."     

Lucy Niebruegge Golden ’83     Franconia, N.H."

From the Judges

This was such an engaging magazine, giving readers multiple easy entry points to the themed content. The writing on the topic was strong; we appreciated the interdisciplinary approach. We really loved the food and drink gift guide. This is a magazine we can see readers picking up repeatedly and for some time to come.