Four Legends and Communications Lessons from the Presidential Campaign

GAINESVILLE, Fla., Aug. 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Four public relations legends appearing two days after the national Presidential election define the program for the Institute for Public Relations (IPR) Annual Distinguished Lecture & Awards Dinner, Nov. 8, 2012, at the Yale Club of New York City. The featured speakers include one of the nation's preeminent pollsters and one of the most celebrated White House communications counselors.

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Mark Penn, corporate vice president for Microsoft, and Karen Hughes, worldwide vice chairman of Burson-Marsteller, will explore communications lessons from the 2012 campaign. James E. Murphy, chairman and CEO of Murphy & Co., will receive the Alexander Hamilton Medal, IPR's highest award for contributions to the practice of public relations, including effective use of research. Bruce K. Berger, Ph.D., professor at the University of Alabama, will receive the Pathfinder Award for career contributions to scholarly public relations research.

Berger is Reese Phifer Professor of Advertising & Public Relations in the College of Communication and Information Sciences at the University of Alabama. Previously, he was vice president of corporate affairs for Whirlpool Corporation and president of the Whirlpool Foundation. He is founding director of the Plank Center for Leadership in Public Relations and an IPR trustee. Berger's research has focused on public relations leadership, employee communications and public policy influence. He currently is leading a study of communication management in 23 countries.

Hughes, as worldwide vice chairman of Burson-Marsteller, has more than 30 years of public policy, communications and political experience. She served as counselor to President George W. Bush. She led the White House offices of communications, press secretary, media affairs and speechwriting. As undersecretary of state, she made public diplomacy central in the development of foreign policy.  Hughes was executive director of the Texas Republican Party from 1992 until 1994.  She is the author of "Ten Minutes from Normal," a book about her decision to leave the White House to return with her family to Texas.

Murphy, in addition to leading Murphy & Co., was chief marketing and communications officer for Accenture. He led the effort to rebrand that company and was named Business Marketer of the Year by BtoB magazine. He received the Public Relations Professional of the Year Award from the Public Relations Society of America and was elected to the Arthur W. Page Society Hall of Fame. Previously, Murphy served as chief communications and public affairs officer for Owens-Corning Fiberglas, Beatrice and Merrill Lynch. He was president of the Page Society and chaired the PR Coalition, a group of 20 organizations representing more than 50,000 professionals. Jim also has served on the boards of IPR, the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University and the College of Media of the University of Illinois.

Penn, prior to joining Microsoft, was worldwide CEO of Burson-Marsteller and CEO of Penn Schoen Berland. He served as President Clinton's White House pollster for six years. He was chief adviser to Clinton in the 1996 presidential election and to Hillary Rodham Clinton for her Senate and presidential races. He helped elect more than 25 leaders in the US, Asia, Latin America and Europe. Penn has twice received the American Association of Political Consultants' Pollster of the Year award and is the author of "Microtrends: The Small Forces Behind Tomorrow's Big Changes."

More information on IPR is available at www.instituteforpr.org.

SOURCE Institute for Public Relations