University of Kentucky College of Communication & Information

Miguel Salinas is program director for the Adobe Foundation and a senior manager in the Corporate Social Responsibility group at Adobe Systems Incorporated. He was lead project manager for the visioning and creation of the Adobe Youth Voices program, the signature global philanthropy initiative of the Adobe Foundation that empowers youth from underserved communities to comment on their world using multimedia and digital tools. Miguel and his team are charged with the strategic planning and…

Willard D. “Bill” Nielsen is a consultant to management of for-profit and not-for-profit organizations.  He specializes in corporate communications, public relations, public affairs, corporate coaching and organizational vision and values, drawing on experience gained over 30 years in both industry and agency settings. He retired as Corporate Vice President of Johnson & Johnson in December 2004, after serving 17 years with the Company.  As an officer of the Corporation reporting to its chairman and ceo,…

Valerie Di Maria is Director, Client Strategy & Growth for Peppercom, a leading full-service public relations firm, where she works with an array of clients to develop comprehensive communications and marketing programs and leads the agency’s outreach to CEOs and other C-suite executives. Prior to joining Peppercom, she was Senior Vice President and Group Marketing and Communications Director for Willis Group Holdings Limited, the global insurance broker. Previously, she was Corporate Vice President of Communications…

Peter Debreceny is an independent public relations consultant specializing in corporate social responsibility and change management communications, based in Chicago, IL. He recently retired as Vice President of the Corporate Relations Department of Allstate Insurance Company responsible for internal and external communications for the Allstate Corporation and its subsidiaries, including financial communications and production of the Annual Report and CSR Report. Peter has had more than 30 years' experience in all aspects of public relations…

As Vice President of Public Relations for UPS, Ken Sternad directs all media relations, reputation management, executive communications, financial communications and marketing public relations activities for the company worldwide. A native of Norwalk, Ct., Sternad received a bachelor’s degree in journalism and political science from Ohio Wesleyan University and did graduate work in corporate and political communications at Fairfield University. After working as a daily newspaper reporter, Sternad began his UPS career in 1977 as…

Christopher Simpson, Chief Executive Officer and Partner, is a nationally recognized integrated marketing, media relations and crisis communications leader in higher education, the federal government and for profits. He founded Simpson Consulting which has evolved into SimpsonScarborough. A former political writer for The Washington Times, Mr. Simpson covered Congress and national politics and also served as the newspaper's Capitol Hill Bureau Chief and Assistant National Editor. In the 1980s he covered stories as divergent as…

Ginger Hardage, Senior Vice President Corporate Communications for Southwest Airlines Co., oversees the Public Relations, Employee Communications, Civic and Charitable Contributions, Legislative Awareness, Pass Bureau, and Emergency Response Departments at Southwest Airlines. Ms. Hardage began her career with Southwest Airlines in December of 1990. Ms. Hardage has worked in public relations in the Dallas area for more than 25 years. Before beginning her career at Southwest, she worked at Maxus Energy Corporation and its predecessor,…

Betsy Plank might be called public relations' First Lady. As both a woman and as a public relations professional, Plank has achieved a career of firsts. She was the first woman elected president of the Public Relations Society of America, and the first person to receive PRSA's two top professional honors: the Gold Anvil as the nation's outstanding professional and the Lund Award for exemplary civic and community service. At Ameritech she was the first…

Daniel J. Edelman is recognized as a leader and innovator in the development of public relations practices, standards and ethics in the U.S. and internationally. For more than a half century, he has made major contributions to advance the visibility of the profession and has been a staunch advocate of its important contributions. He also has given unstintingly of his time to the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), to students interested in public relations…

Dick Truitt is principal of Truitt Partners LLC, the Connecticut-based communications consulting company, and a counselor to executives at corporations and communications firms throughout the world. He also is a frequent speaker, workshop facilitator and trainer on subjects related to public relations strategy and firm management. Prior to forming his firm in 1991, Truitt was president of Doremus & Co., a large corporate/financial advertising and public relations agency. He also served for 26 years at…

Fraser P. Seitel, founder, Emerald Partners Characterizing Fraser Seitel's multiple audiences is somewhat akin to a definition of ubiquitous. They're everywhere! Two hundred colleges and universities have selected his outstanding text, The Practice of Public Relations. He recently stepped down as Editor of the Public Relations Society of America's Strategist magazine. He appears frequently on FOX News, The O'Reilly Factor, The Edge and also on CNN's Inside Politics, as well as Larry King Live. He…

2000 Harold Burson, founder chairman, Burson-Marsteller Harold Burson's position as a preeminent specialist in public relations is undisputed. It is little wonder that PR Week named him "the century's most influential PR figure." Burson's credits include co-founding the world's largest public relations agency, Burson-Marsteller. Born to English parents in Memphis, Tennessee, Burson paid his way through college by writing for a newspaper. That experience led to a job helping a company gain community support for…