The Tudor Van Hampton Award for Editorial Excellence will be given annually by the Construction Media Alliance, the group announced at its first awards ceremony at CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2017 in Las Vegas. Van Hampton, who died in February at age 39, was ENR’s managing editor.

Bill Elverman, one of the founders of the group, points to Van Hampton’s “dedication to his craft” and “passion for his industry” as reasons why a number of equipment editors wanted to honor his legacy to construction. “He was a true journalist’s journalist. He asked questions that other editors might not,” adds Elverman, director of public relations at PKA Marketing Communications.

CMA will begin taking entries later this spring for the new award, which will honor “a single journalist’s body of work in the previous 12 months,” Elverman says. Entry fees for the award will be “100% donated” to Habitat for Humanity, one of Van Hampton’s favorite causes. Creating the alliance was a team effort by industry editors, publicists and marketers who drew together many former members of the disbanded Construction Writers Association. Elverman adds that the new group “casts a wider net,” recognizing the rapidly changing and increasingly diverse construction media world that embraces digital engagement and the “growing field of social media influencers.”

Van Hampton’s passing has also brought changes to the leadership team at ENR. Scott Blair is promoted to the post of managing editor. “I’m honored to carry forward this venerable magazine’s mission to provide readers with essential national and international news and data,” he says. Blair came to ENR from editing Southwest Contractor magazine, which was integrated into ENR in 2011. He became the deputy editor in 2015, guiding ENR’s regional editions.

Scott Judy is promoted to regional deputy editor, Blair’s former role. He “looks forward to leading the team,” as the regional editions expand their scope of coverage to include all 50 states. Judy has more than 25 years of experience covering regional construction markets and will continue to edit ENR Southeast. He also will be in charge of growing ENR’s social media presence.

You may notice another new staff member on the masthead. Pam Radtke Russell, a longtime contributor to ENR, joined the full-time staff in January.