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CWA Has a Long History of Honoring Achievement in Construction Writing

CWA's journalism and photography awards are presented in the spring of each year. They include the Boger, Russell, Godfrey, and Wright Awards.

In 1971, the association established the Robert F. Boger Awards for editorial excellence and achievement in construction journalism, a program which honors editorials, feature articles and special reports or series. The Boger Awards honor the late publisher of McGraw-Hill's Engineering News-Record and Construction Methods & Equipment who was a prime force in the founding of CWA.
In 1993, the T. Randolph Russell Awards for editorial excellence and achievement in newsletters was announced. It is named for "Randy" Russell, who worked for the American Road & Transportation Builders from 1958 until his death in 1985. As vice president of public affairs for ARTBA, Russell published a weekly newsletter.
In 1999, the Kneeland Godfrey Award for Body of Work was introduced. The Godfrey Award is intended to honor journalistic and writing ability, demonstrated through a large sample of writing from the preceding year. This award honors "Ned" Godfrey, a past president of CWA who served in top editorial posts with Civil Engineering and later with the Institute of Management and Administration; Godfrey also authored Partnering in Design and Construction for McGraw Hill prior to his death in 1997.
And in 2004, CWA added photojournalism to the mix with awards now called the Gordon B. Wright Photography Awards. Awards are given for single photos and for series. These awards honor a CWA past president and frequent meeting photographer who was an editor for Building Design & Construction for over 30 years.

CWA's marketing and website awards are presented in the fall of each year.

With the emergence of the internet and its accompanying technology, in 1998 CWA began acknowledging this latest form of journalistic enterprise with its annual Website Awards. The Website Awards were later expanded to cover promotion-oriented websites. In 2006, the awards were again expanded, this time to honor Electronic Communications as well.
Founded in 2001, the CWA Marketing Communications Awards program recognizes another important aspect of construction writers' efforts - communications, including advertising, corporate communications and public relations.