On Wednesday, February, 8, the Silver Medal Committee surprised Mary Lee with the news of her selection as the 2012 Silver Medal recipient.
On February 17, 2012, the American Advertising Federation of Jackson (AAF Jackson), the metro area’s only nationally-affiliated professional organization dedicated to the advertising industry, presented Mary Lee with the 2012 Silver Medal Award.
“The Silver Medal Award Program was established in 1959 to recognize men and women who have made outstanding contributions to advertising,” said Becky White, president of AAF Jackson. “The American Advertising Federation honors active individuals involved in furthering the industry’s standards, creative excellence and responsibility in areas of social concern.”
Mary served on AAF Jackson’s board in several positions prior to becoming president in 2009 and was recognized as Club President of the Year. This year, she returned to serve as the Club’s Treasurer.
Upon completing her college education, Mary joined Neiman Marcus as a copywriter. In 1979, she returned to her hometown, Jackson, to Maris, West & Baker as Copywriter/Broadcast Producer. Her successes as a producer of multi-media campaigns at the local, regional and national levels resulted in numerous creative excellence and marketing awards for the agency’s clients.
Mary Lee moved back to Dallas in the mid-80s when she accepted the position of Copy Chief at Neiman Marcus, and later as Creative Director and Partner for Corporate Image, Ltd. By the mid-90s, The Limited, a national corporation headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, recruited Mary to serve as Copy Chief for the Express Division.
By the late 90s, she gained the Senior Creative Director title and a seat at ABD Group located in Chicago, where she was charged with managing the creative staff. In 2001, she returned to Jackson to serve as Advertising Director for The Partnership for a Healthy Mississippi. When Frontier Strategies was established in 2002, partners Quinton Dickerson and Josh Gregory, recruited Mary to be the agency’s Creative Director.
“In her 30 plus years of service to our industry Mary has crafted more words, supervised more artists and managed more writers than possibly any other individual in the history of the Jackson advertising community. She is known for her discerning eye and impeccable good taste,” said Maggie Clark, past AAF Jackson president and former AAF District 7 governor.
She has also been an active business leader and community volunteer. During Mary’s involvement in the Jackson Junior League she was integral in helping establish Mistletoe Marketplace. After having served on the board of directors of Community Animal Rescue & Adoption, Inc. (CARA), she continues to support the local non-profit, and is involved as a volunteer on several committees at Northminster Baptist Church.
Mary and her husband Joe reside on her family farm at Byram with their grandson, Nicholas Butler, and their eight dogs.
Congratulations Mary!
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