HPU advertising major and Kalamalama section editor Vanessa Katz was recently named a Most Promising Minority Student for 2004 by the American Advertising Federation. Katz, a senior who led the HPU advertising team to win the regional championship in the 2003 National Student Advertising Competition, is one of 25 students honored nationwide.

Born and raised on O‘ahu, Katz is a President’s Scholar and has a 4.0 GPA. She works as an advertising assistant in the HPU Administrative Support Operations Office.

Katz is currently president of Akamai Advertising Agency, the HPU student chapter of the AAF, and she serves as student liaison to the board of directors for AD2 Honolulu, the professional chapter of the AAF. She is also student representative to the HPU College of Communication Advisory Council. Katz is a member of the International Association of Business Communicators, the Organization of Chinese Americans, and the Association of Women Bodyboarders.

As a recipient of the AAF award, Katz’s name, picture, and resume will be featured in the Feb. 19, 2004 issue of Advertising Age, and will be available to advertising agencies across the nation.

She will be honored at a two-day event at the Waldorf Astoria in New York in mid-February, including a luncheon for 500 people with the theme “Building Bridges for Our Future.” Keynote speaker will be Frank Cooper, vice president of multicultural marketing and development with Pepsi-Cola North America.