State of Tomorrow™ PBS Series Wins Two Lone Star EMMYs

The PBS series State of Tomorrow™ has been recognized for outstanding effort in broadcasting in Texas.

The 13-episode series, which aired last spring, was co-produced by The University of Texas Foundation and Austin-based Alpheus Media. The documentary examined how higher education institutions in Texas contribute to society in such arenas as medicine, science, technology and the environment.

The series garnered two Lone Star EMMYs during a gala Oct. 27 in Dallas. The awards are given annually by the Texas chapter of the National Association of Television Arts and Sciences. The State of Tomorrow™ series had been nominated for five of the awards.

The academy recognized the series in the area of graphic arts-animation and singled out one episode in public/current/community affairs category. The episode focused on the disaster response role of UT Austin, UT Tyler Health Center, UT Tyler and Texas A&M University after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

The EMMYs come on the heels of a national award the series won from the American Academy of Nurses, which recognized one of the series’ episodes for its profile of the Smart Hospital™, a clinical learning center at The University of Texas at Arlington School of Nursing. The same episode also featured a nursing program at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center.

“To be recognized with these awards is a great honor – and particularly satisfying because this represents our first effort in documentary broadcasting,” said Randa S. Safady, UT System vice chancellor for external relations and the series’ executive producer.

“Higher education institutions make profoundly significant contributions to the vitality of this state, and we believe we were able to demonstrate just how important our universities and health centers are to the people of Texas,” Safady added.

The State of Tomorrow™ series was produced in partnership with PBS affiliate KLRU, and involved an unprecedented collaboration of the UT System, Texas A&M University System, Texas State University System, Texas Tech University System, University of Houston System and the University of North Texas System.