Echo Makes News

The Commission on Public Relations Measurement and Evaluation of the Institute for Public Relations has a new chair and six new members.

Gainesville, FL [March 30, 2005] -The Commission has elected Dr. Donald K. Wright, professor of communication at the University of South Alabama, to be its 2005 chair. Dr. Wright, one of the world's most published public relations scholars, is a long-time member of the Institute's Board of Trustees. He also serves on the Board of Trustees of the Arthur W. Page Society and is the immediate past president of the International Public Relations Association (IPRA).

Recently elected as new members of the Commission are: Pauline Draper, senior vice president, Millward Brown Precis; Marianne Eisenmann, managing director, North America, Echo Research; Dr. Craig S. Fleisher, professor, Odette School of Business, University of Windsor; Dr. David Geddes, senior vice president and research director, Fleishman-Hillard; Angie Jeffrey, vice president, PRtrak/Surveillance Data, Inc. and You Mon Tsang, founder and vice president, Biz360.

The Measurement Commission, created under the auspices of the Institute in 1997, is committed to the development and enhancement of measurement and evaluation in public relations. Commission membership consists of two dozen of the nation's leading thought leaders in the research field with representation from corporations and non-profits, public relations firms, research providers and academics. Measurement Commission members have produced one book and dozens of articles about public relations measurement and evaluation. They also have made presentations and spoken about research at dozens of meetings, seminars and conferences. Many of the Commission's papers are available, without charge, on the Institute's website, www.instituteforpr.com.

Other members of the Commission are: Forrest Anderson; Patricia Bayerlein, Gagen MacDonald; Don BartholomeW, GCI Group; Kathryn Collins, General Motors; Donna Coletti, Texas Instruments; John Gilfeather, NOP World; Toni Griffin, MetLife; Bruce Jeffries-Fox; Fraser Likely, Likely Communication Strategies Ltd.; Dr. David Michaelson, David Michaelson & Company; Tom Nicholson, HSBC - North America; Katharine D. Paine, K.D. Paine & Partners; Dr. Brad Rawlins, Brigham Young University; Dr. David Rockland, Ketchum; Dr. Don W. Stacks, University of Miami, and Mark Weiner, Delahaye Bacon's Information Inc.

Frank Ovaitt, President & CEO of the Institute, and Michelle Hinson, IPR's Director of Development, also serve on the commission as do emeritus members Walter Barlow, Research Strategies Corporation; Jack Felton, Institute President & CEO Emeritus; Dr. James Grunig, University of Maryland, and Dr. Walter K. Lindenmann, formerly with Ketchum.

The Institute for Public Relations, dedicated to the science beneath the art of public relations, is an independent foundation that exists to build and document the intellectual foundations of public relations, and to mainstream this knowledge by making it available and useful to practitioners, educators, researchers and the clients they serve. For more information, please visit www.instituteforpr.com

For more information:
Don Wright, 251-380-0850, donaldkwright@aol.com
Michelle Hinson 352 392-0280, mhinson@jou.ufl.edu