To commemorate the 50 year history of the HFAC, we have selected a few individuals we consider as prophets, founders, friends and alumni of the arts and communications who have either gone from the HFAC into a global arena or have been impacted by our students and faculty.
The fourth floor of the HFAC features posters that include quotes from these individuals. We are putting up one poster a week until the gala celebration.
[fancy_heading style=”style2″ size=”medium”]Gary Dixon[/fancy_heading] CFAC Alumnus (1976, MA Communications)
The Foundation for a Better Life, President
[blockquote align=”center” style=”style3″]The spiritual atmosphere and high academic expectations at BYU pushed me to new levels of what I could expect of myself. The Communications Department gave students the impression that we had a responsibility to take whatever talents we had and the learning we received and make a positive contribution to society.[/blockquote]
Gary Dixon is president of the Foundation for a Better Life and a good friend to Brigham Young University. Hailing from Santa Fe, New Mexico, Gary Dixon received his bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism from Texas Tech University. Later, he came to BYU where he completed his graduate studies with a master’s degree in communications.
Dixon’s career led him to Bonneville Communications where he served as vice president. During his time there, he directed a variety of successful campaigns, many of them for charitable organizations such as Homefront, Children’s Miracle Network, and the American Cancer Society.
Armed with experience at Bonneville Communications and a degree from BYU, Dixon was ideally suited to become president of the Foundation for a Better Life. With Dixon at the helm, the Foundation launched a national multimedia campaign to advocate positive values across the country. The messages for the foundation have aired on every major network, on thousands of theater screens, and in more than two hundred countries. They also appear on more than ten thousand billboards, including at Times Square. The Foundation’s work under Dixon has been recognized with the TELLY, Creativity, Mobius, Cine Golden Eagle, and Gabriel awards.
Dixon has expressed his gratitude for his experiences at BYU by giving back. He was a major contributor in organizing the alumni board for the College of Fine Arts and Communications at BYU where he currently serves as chair. He has been a major advocate of alumni mentoring students, a responsibility he himself has shouldered. One of the students he mentored, Jessica Hoffman Porter, said that Dixon has been an influential resource for her.
“He is a big name in his industry, but he made me think he would be thrilled to continue working with me,” Porter said. “Our first phone conversation lasted more than an hour. He gave me a lot of feedback and provided some interesting tips I had never considered.”
Dixon was named an outstanding alumnus by the College of Fine Arts and Communications in 2004.
