ADC Grandmasters is a program to honor educators who for better than ten years have influenced students and have helped shape the visual communications field as a whole. The follow up exhibition includes the work of the ADC Grandmaster and the work of twenty of their progeny. Scholarships are endowed by alum in the name of the ADC Grandmaster for their alma mater.

ADC presented the first annual ADC Grandmasters Awards on October 6, 2008. The inaugural group of ADC Grandmasters were:

	Mark Fenske, VCU Brandcenter Mark Fenske has been a copywriter, a voiceover, a creative director, a professor, the founder of an agency/production company, and a commercials & music video director. He taught at Art Center College of Art & Design from 1988 to 2000 and is now a Professor at VCU where he has taught on and off since 2000.
	Ray Nichols, a former University of Delaware instructor Raymond Nichols holds an MFA degree in Advertising Design from Louisiana Tech University. He was coordinator of the Visual Communications Group at the University of Delaware and director of the Advertising Design program from 1978 to 2006. Ray energized the program to achieve an international reputation, earning a UD Excellence in Teaching Award.
	Carin Goldberg, School of Visual Arts Carin Goldberg studied at the Cooper Union School of Art and began her career as a staff designer at CBS Television, CBS Records and Atlantic Records before establishing her own firm, Carin Goldberg Design, in 1982. She has taught Third Year Typography and Senior Portfolio at the School of Visual Arts in New York City since 1983.
	Sheila Levrant de Bretteville, Yale University Sheila de Bretteville received a B.A. in Art History, a M.F.A. from Yale, and honorary degrees from California College of Arts and Crafts and Moore College of Art. She was designated "Design Legend" by the American Institute of Graphic Arts in 2006. She joined the Yale faculty in 1990, the first tenured woman in the Yale University School of Art.
	Jeffrey Metzner, a former School of Visual Arts instructor Jeffrey Metzner started as a Art Director and moved to television commercial direction. He found his way to teaching and taught an acclaimed Senior Portfolio Class, for many years, as well as a class he called “The Process,” which was designed to help students unlock their creative potential. He also taught a breakthrough digital video class that was on the cutting edge of technology and concept, which led to his founding and running the Motion Graphics Department at SVA.

The 2008 group of ADC Grandmasters were chosen by the ADC Grandmaster Nominating Committee comprise of:

Bill Oberlander, Chairman
Former President of the ADC and Executive Creative Director, Cossette Communication Group

Rick Boyko
Director, VCU Brandcenter

Janet Froelich
Creative Director, New York Times

Ann Lemon
Professor, University of Delaware

Gael Towey
Chief Creative Officer of Martha Stewart Living

Richard Wilde
Chairman, Advertising/Graphic Design Departments, School of Visual Arts

Ami Brophy
CEO, ADC

The awards reception took place against the backdrop of an exhibition that featured the work of ADC Grandmasters and that of 85 of their current and former students. The exhibition ran from October 6 until October 10.