GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Ray Kotcher, Chairman and Senior Partner of Ketchum, will receive the 2014 Institute for Public Relations (IPR) Alexander Hamilton Medal, awarded for lifetime contribution to the public relations profession.
Kotcher will accept the Institute’s highest honor and speak at IPR’s 53rd Annual Distinguished Lecture & Awards Dinner at the Yale Club of New York City on Nov. 13.
During his 30-year career at Ketchum, Kotcher guided the expansion of the firm’s global client-service footprint. Leading one of the largest mergers in the PR industry when Ketchum combined operations with Pleon, Europe’s largest strategic communications consultancy, in 2009, he continued to increase the firm’s reach with major investments in the Middle East, Russia, China and India.
While he was CEO, the firm tripled in size due to these and other investments, and, according to PRWeek’s most recent Agency Business Report, today Ketchum is ranked No. 4 worldwide. In 2012, PRWeek honored Ketchum as its Agency of the Year for the second time during Ray’s tenure as CEO.
Kotcher is a past trustee of the Institute for Public Relations and former two-time chair of the Council of Public Relations Firms. Today, he serves on the executive committee and board of trustees of the Arthur W. Page Society and is a trustee of the PRSA Foundation.
In 2012, Kotcher received the PRSA Gold Anvil, that organization’s highest individual honor for lifetime achievement. He also is a past recipient of the Holmes Group’s Individual Achievement SABRE Award. In 2013, he was inducted into PR News’ PR People Hall of Fame.
Kotcher has a Bachelor of Arts in English from the State University of New York at Geneseo and serves as a trustee of the Geneseo Foundation board. He has a Master of Science in public relations from Boston University’s College of Communication. He delivered that College’s 2006 commencement address and has been honored by the University as a distinguished alumnus.
Tickets for the Distinguished Lecture & Awards Dinner, sold out every year, are available for individual purchase at $500. Tables of 10 can be purchased for $5,000 and premium tables of 10 are available for purchase at $10,000. The price includes a networking cocktail reception, the awards ceremony and dinner, and the distinguished lecture.
The Alexander Hamilton Medal is given in recognition of the carefully planned strategies Hamilton used to gain the acceptance and the adoption of the U.S. Constitution. Each year the Institute for Public Relations presents its highest award to someone who has made major contributions to the practice of public relations, including effective use of research.
The Institute for Public Relations (IPR) is an independent foundation dedicated to the science beneath the art of public relations™. We focus on research that matters to the practice, providing timely insights and applied intelligence that professionals can put to immediate use.
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Contact: Jenn Moyer, Institute for PR Contact: Alicia Stetzer, Ketchum
Tel: 352-392-0280 Tel: 646-935-3910
Email: operations@instituteforpr.org Email: alicia.stetzer@ketchum.com
