July 13, 1973 –
The University of Texas
Austin, Texas
Milton Fairman is one of our senior public relations practitioners. A native Chicagoan, he studied at Loyola University and the University of Chicago before beginning a career as reporter, feature writer and city editor on Chicago newspapers.
In 1935 Fairman joined the staff of Harold W. Ickes, who was then Secretary of the Interior and Public Works Administrator, asassistant director of information.
After two years in Washington, Fairman was engaged by Borden, Inc. to organize a regional public relations office in Columbus, Ohio. He was appointed the corporation’s director of public relations in 1943 and elected a vice president in 1963, a post he held until his retirement in 1967.
Fairman was a member of the first board of the Public Relations Seminar and the first board of the Public Relations Society of America. He served as PRSA president in 1951 and was chairman of its executive committee, a member of the first accreditation board and for two terms (1954-55 and 1968-71) editor of Public Relations Journal. He served as president of the Foundation for Public Relations Research and Education from 1961 to 1965 and is currently a Trustee.
He was the technical advisor for the Foundation’s new film, Opinion of the Publics. Nowa consultant in Stamford, Conn., Fairman has written extensively on professional public relations and is the recipient of many professional awards and honors.
