Jim Stroup of Virginia Tech’s Office of University Relations was named photographer of the year by the University Photographers’ Association of America (UPAA).At the annual UPAA symposium in June, Stroup also won the Nikon Shoot Out Competition and the Monthly Image Competition Award, making him the first photographer to win all three major awards in one year.

The UPAA is an international organization of college and university photographers founded in 1961.  Its mission is to promote photographic excellence in higher education.

Stroup, one of three photographers in Virginia Tech’s Visual and Broadcast Communications unit, received his degree in commercial photography from the Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, California.

In February, Stroup also won the Grand Award in Photography from District III of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education at its annual conference in Tampa, Florida.

Visual and Broadcast Communications photographers provide promotional photography for the Virginia Tech website, university magazines and publications, and other communications materials aimed at external audiences.

Randy Stith is director of Visual and Broadcast Communications at Virginia Tech.