GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Dr. Dejan Verčič, Professor and Head of Centre for Marketing and Public Relations at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, will receive the 2016 Pathfinder Award, the highest academic honor bestowed by the Institute for Public Relations (IPR), at the 2016 Annual Distinguished Lecture and Awards Dinner on November 30 at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City.
This accolade is given in recognition of an original program of scholarly research that has made a significant contribution to the body of knowledge and practice of public relations.
Dr. Verčič was the first Secretary General of the Public Relations Society of Slovenia, and the President of the European Public Relations Education and Research Association (EUPRERA). He is an Honorary Member of the Croatian Public Relations Association (HUOJ) and a Member of the Arthur Page Society. Since 1994, he has organized BledCom, an annual International Public Relations Research Symposium in Bled, Slovenia. He is a founding member of the European Communication Monitor (ECM) research team.
As a researcher, Dr. Verčič has co-authored several seminal works in international public relations, European public relations, reflective communication management, and strategic communication. He has written and edited 14 books and more than 300 articles, book chapters, monographs, reviews and conference papers.
“The IPR selection committee was impressed with many of Professor Verčič’s accomplishments,” said Donald K. Wright, Ph.D., IPR Trustee and Harold Burson Professor & Chair in Public Relations at Boston University. “He is clearly noted as one of the leading public relations scholars in Europe and his commitment to the profession is evident through his leadership experience with the European Public Relations Education and Research Association and his development of the BledCom conference.”
“I would like to thank the Institute of Public Relations, which is devoted to the science behind the art of public relations, for recognizing my work,” said Dr. Verčič . “I am honored to be added to the list of eminent scholars and researchers who have received this award before me. There has never been a better time for being in public relations.”
Before the Annual Distinguished Lecture & Awards Dinner, Dr. Verčič, will present his research at the Fifth Annual IPR Research Symposium. The IPR Research Symposium will feature speakers presenting research-based insights on priority topics identified by IPR Trustees as important to the practice.
In addition to Dr. Verčič’s receiving the Pathfinder award at the Annual Distinguished Lecture, Patrick Ford, Vice Chairman and Chief Client Officer of Burson Marsteller, will receive the Alexander Hamilton Medal, and Charlotte Otto, Senior Corporate Strategist for Weber Shandwick, will receive the Jack Felton Medal for Lifetime Achievement. Geoff Colvin, Senior Editor-at-Large of Fortune magazine, will deliver the 55th Annual Distinguished Lecture.
For tickets and information about the IPR Research Symposium or the IPR Annual Distinguished Lecture & Awards Dinner, please visit IPR’s event page.
Register for the IPR Research Symposium, here.
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 immediately applicable in communications practice. Its research is available free at instituteforpr.org and provides the basis for the organization’s professional conferences and events.
