UA Plank Center Adds Members, Re-Elects Leaders

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The board of advisers for The University of Alabama’s Plank Center for Leadership in Public Relations has elected a vice-chair, re-elected five members and added three new advisers, bringing the group to 21.

E. Ronald Culp, founder and principal of Culp & Co., and former senior VP and director of Ketchum’s North America Corporate Practice, was elected vice-chair to replace John “Jack” Koten, retired senior VP of corporate communications for Ameritech, who assumed the chair’s position with the death last year of former chair Betsy Plank, for whom the Center is named.

Advisers re-elected to three-year terms are:

• Keith Burton, president, Insidedge—GolinHarris, Chicago.

• Dr. Culpepper Clark, dean of the College of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Georgia, and former dean of UA’s College of Communication and Information Sciences.

• William Heyman, president, Heyman Associates, New York.

• T.R. Reid, public relations consultant, Texas.

• Kevin Saghy, marketing and public relations specialist, Chicago Cubs.

“That all of these outstanding public relations experts and leaders agreed to continue their service to the Center and to its mission of developing leadership values and skills among public relations practitioners is a testament to the kind of leaders they are,” said Dr. Karla Gower, director of the Plank Center and Behringer Distinguished Professor in the department of advertising and public relations at UA.

The newly elected advisers are:

• Jim Bakken, senior director—Alabama, Peritus PR, and a graduate of UA’s advertising and public relations department.

• Carrie Kurlander, VP, Communications, Southern Company, Atlanta.

• Sue Neumann, VP, Corporate Communications & Public Relations, Praxair.

“We are delighted these individuals have agreed to join the board,” said Gower. “They all have impressive leadership abilities that complement those of the leading academics and professionals in public relations already on the board.”

The Center, established in 2005 and named for UA alumna and nationally acclaimed public relations pioneer Betsy Plank, seeks to help develop and recognize outstanding leaders in public relations in the profession and the classroom. It promotes teaching, research and service that further the understanding and practice of ethical and effective public relations.

The Center is housed in UA’s College of Communication and Information Sciences. UA’s public relations program, with nearly 600 students, is the largest undergraduate degree program in the college. The program is certified by the Public Relations Society of America and was named by PRWeek Magazine as the top-ranked undergraduate public relations program in the country in 2010.