Ryan Teller, a long-time communication director at Union Adventist University, recently received the Mid-America Union Excellence in Communication Ministry Award.
This surprises no one.
Even if you go back to the days Teller attended Dakota Adventist Academy, teachers and other students were stunned at the level of effort he put into communications projects. Like the time he did a report for Bible class that included a TV news desk with two students as anchors and a reporter transmitting his news from a completely different room. Give the boy an “A.”
Today, Teller is vice president of Enrollment Management at Union, the same school where he attended classes in the late 90s. His obsession in college was making videos. After every other Tuesday chapel, he would debut a video called UTV. “I’m a tech nerd at heart,” he says. He worked at Time Warner Cable Public Access Television as a student and intended to go full-time after graduation, but providence built an offramp to his career plans.
Two months before his graduation, the Mid-America Union hired him to fill a vacancy in their communication department. They called it an internship at first, but eventually he was recognized as communication director and editor of Outlook magazine. He did all this while finishing his senior studies.
In 2005, Teller and his wife Tanya were called to Texas, where he built the conference communication department from the ground up.
Fifteen years ago, Union brought the Teller family, now featuring four children, back to Lincoln. Teller took on public relations and other communications duties. “I would say that the core message I want to communicate is that the people at Union make all the difference,” says Teller. “They make a better experience for students.”
Staying true to his love of video, he expanded the schools streaming service which shared sports games and other events with parents and alumni. One of his most significant projects was spearheading the name change of Union College to Union Adventist University.
“Ryan lives with an intentionality many of us only dream of,” said Scott Cushman, director of public relations and a longtime coworker at Union.” A good example is his exercise regimen. A couple years after he came to Union, Ryan decided to start exercising more. He made time by waking up earlier and running in almost any weather. He’s kept it up for years. Despite all the stress we put him through, he’s healthier now than when he moved to Lincoln.
“He also made a conscious decision years ago to prioritize in-person conversations,” Cushman added. “I don’t know how many times I’ve been in a meeting with him when he let very important people go to voicemail because he values being present with those of us in the room. Those may seem like little things, but they point to a bigger pattern. To me, Ryan is a positive example of Luke 16:10: someone who is faithful in little things and who we all know we can trust in moments of crisis.”
Making communication better
When accepting the award from Brenda Dickerson, Mid-America Union communication director, Teller said, “My greatest blessing hasjust been to work with so many amazing people along the way.” He began to point out communication professionals in the audience he had worked with throughout his career, trying to deflect attention from himself.
Then it was time for a picture with his glittering award. He reached out for a handshake with Dickerson, then caught himself. “I learned from one of my first mentors, Chris Blake, that the ‘grip and grin’ is actually a terrible photo to use,” he said with a laugh. He and Dickerson changed their pose to the approval of the audience. Once again, Teller had put in the effort to make a piece of communication, in this case a photo, a little better.
No surprise there.
