GAINESVILLE, FL – Five top corporate communications officers have joined the Institute for Public Relations (IPR) Board of Trustees. The new trustees are Richard Jones, senior vice president and chief communications officer, Guardian Life; Torod Neptune, corporate vice president, communications, Verizon Communications; Adrian Rodriguez, senior vice president and chief communications officer, MetLife; Oscar Suris, executive vice president, corporate communications, Wells Fargo; and Richard White, vice president, corporate communications, Wisconsin Energy. Each trustee will serve a three-year term through year-end 2014.
The IPR Board also elected officers to serve a one-year term. Mike Fernandez, corporate vice president, corporate affairs at Cargill, and Matthew Gonring, vice president, corporate communications at Jackson, will continue their roles as Board co-chairs. Ken Makovsky, president of Makovsky + Company, was re-elected treasurer and Frank Ovaitt will serve as IPR president and CEO.
Long-time trustee Ward White, chief strategy officer, Edelman Southwest, was named an honorary trustee. White has served on the IPR Board since 1994 and as co-chair of the Board from 1999 to 2005.
The Board appointed an Executive Committee including the elected officers and Amy Binder, CEO, RFǀBinder Partners; Rob Flaherty, senior partner and president, Ketchum; Patrick Ford, vice chairman of client service, Burson-Marsteller; Bill Heyman, president and CEO, Heyman Associates; Gary Sheffer, vice president, corporate communications and public affairs, General Electric; Jim Simon, consultant; Wendi Strong, executive vice president, corporate communications, USAA; and Donald K. Wright, Ph.D., Harold Burson professor and chair in public relations, Boston University.
The IPR Board now includes 19 corporate, 14 agency, 4 educator and a total of 43 Trustees. Those re-elected to another three-year term are Lynn Brown, vice president, corporate communications, Waste Management; Keith Burton, president, Insidedge and executive vice president, GolinHarris; Peter Debreceny, consultant, Gagen MacDonald; Ford; Mark Hass, president, Edelman China; Margery Kraus, president and CEO, APCO Worldwide; Makovsky; Andrew Polansky, president, Weber Shandwick; Sheffer; Simon; Don Stacks, Ph.D., professor of public relations and director of public relations graduate studies, University of Miami; and Wright.
The Institute for Public Relations is an independent foundation dedicated to the science beneath the art of public relations™ and focused on research that is applicable in communications practice. Its research is available free at instituteforpr.org and provides the basis for the organization’s professional conferences and events.
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For more information:
Jenn Moyer
jmoyer@jou.ufl.edu
+1 352 392 0280
