Tamaqua graduate receives award for work on 'Jeopardy!'

Phil Zimmerman, a 1998 graduate of Tamaqua Area High School, was recently recognized as the "2011 Publicist of the Year" at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., by PR News.

Zimmerman serves as senior publicist for the popular TV quiz show "Jeopardy!", and was recognized for his work developing the public relations campaign for the show "The IBM Challenge," which pitted two human contestants against IBM's Watson computer.

Zimmerman was selected from a wide range of publicity professionals including corporations, non-profits, public relations agencies, production companies and educational institutions. The winners of this annual program set the benchmark for public relations and underscore the outstanding public relations achievements made in the past year.

Zimmerman is the son of Carl and Mary Louise Zimmerman of Hometown. He received his undergraduate degree from Lycoming College and his graduate degree from University of Waikato in New Zealand while on a Fulbright scholarship.