PRSA Mourns the Loss of Betsy Plank, APR, Fellow PRSA

NEW YORK (May 24, 2010) — The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) mourns the loss of Betsy Plank, APR, Fellow PRSA, who passed away on May 23, following a brief illness. Plank was 86.

 

"Every public relations professional today was impacted by the life of Betsy Ann Plank," said Gary McCormick, APR, Fellow PRSA, PRSA's 2010 chair and CEO. "From championing public relations education in colleges across the nation, to creating a student society that now numbers more than 10,000, to breaking the glass ceiling for women in the workplace and becoming the first female  president of a society for our profession, she markedly changed public relations for the better. This small lady from Alabama was larger than life in her commitment to the profession. She will forever have our gratitude and our hearts."

 

While the term “pioneer” is often loosely used, Plank was a true trailblazer in the field of public relations.

 

A resident of Chicago, Plank was the first woman to: head a division of Illinois Bell; be elected president of the Publicity Club of Chicago; and serve as president of PRSA, the world’s largest association of public relations and communications professionals and students.

 

During her career, Plank earned countless accolades for her dedication and service to public relations. She is the first person ever to have received three of PRSA’s top individual honors: the Gold Anvil Award (1977), the Paul M. Lund Public Service Award (1989) and the Patrick Jackson Award for Distinguished Service to PRSA (2001). Plank also received the Arthur W. Page Society’s Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Institute for Public Relations’ Alexander Hamilton Medal for major contributions to the practice of public relations, in 2000.

 

Plank also broke new ground in the area of public relations education. In 1967, she helped to create the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA), and in 1987, was co-chair of a national commission to develop guidelines for the undergraduate public relations curriculum. In 2000, Plank was elected to the College of Communication Hall of Fame at the University of Alabama, her alma mater, and it was there in 2005 that she established the Plank Center for Leadership in Public Relations. She also established PRSA’s first-ever scholarship endowment fund, which also bears her name.

 

Plank remained actively involved with PRSA and The Arthur W. Page Society, as well as numerous other organizations, up until the time of her death.

 

A past national adviser to PRSSA, Plank had a PRSSA Chapter at Northern Illinois University established in her name; the Chapter also named its annual scholarship for Plank. And as founder and co-chair of the philanthropic, “Champions for PRSSA,” Plank received the student organization’s 25th Anniversary Award in 1993. Her “Champions” reception at PRSA’s International Conference was always well attended, out of the industry’s love and respect for Plank and her achievements.

 

Plank received her B.A. degree from the University of Alabama in 1944. She was associated with radio station NQV-Pittsburgh before entering public relations in 1947.

 

She eventually rose to the rank of executive vice president of Daniel J. Edelman, Inc. (now Edelman), before joining the Bell System in 1973. She was director of public relations planning at AT&T before going to Illinois Bell (now AT&T Illinois) to direct external affairs.

 

Plank retired from corporate practice in 1990, but remained active in the industry as a public relations consultant and speaker.

 

Plank also was a social activist who participated in the 1965 Civil Rights March from Selma to Montgomery, as well. Among those organizations with which she was active, Plank chaired the Illinois Council on Economic Education and the Citizenship Council of Metropolitan Chicago; served on the boards of the United Way, Girl Scouts USA and Girl Scouts of Chicago; and was founder of The Chicago Network, an association of Chicago professional women.

 

Plank loved the city of Chicago as much as she loved practicing public relations. She was the only person to have been president of four Chicago communications organizations: Publicity Club of Chicago (1963); Welfare Public Relations Forum (1966-67); PRSA Chicago Chapter (1969); and the Public Relations Forum (1979). Plank is a lifetime member of the Publicity Club of Chicago, and a member of the Economic Club and Union League Club of Chicago.

 

Plank was married to the late Sherman V. Rosenfield and resided in the Windy City.

 

With more than 31,000 members, PRSA is the largest organization of public relations professionals and students. PRSA is comprised of 111 local Chapters organized into 10 geographic Districts; 16 Professional Interest Sections that focus on issues, trends and research relevant to specialized practice areas, such as technology, health care, financial communications, entertainment and sports, and travel tourism; and the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA), which has more than 300 Chapters at colleges and universities in the United States and abroad. PRSA is headquartered in New York.