BOARD OF ADVISORS

The Board of Advisors of The Plank Center consists of leading academics and practitioners who provide counsel, direction and oversight to the Center regarding strategic plans and programs to support its leadership mission. Current members of the Board are:

Dr. Bruce Berger

Professor and chair of the Advertising & Public Relations Department at UA;

Former corporate VP of public affairs at Whirlpool Corporation.

Keith Burton

President, Insidedge—GolinHarris, a leading public relations firm;

Former general manager of GolinHarris’ headquarters in Chicago.

Dr. Culpepper Clark,

Dean of The Grady College of Journalism & Mass Communication,

University of Georgia;

Former dean of the University of Alabama’s (UA)

College of Communication & Information Sciences.

E. Ronald Culp,

Senior VP and managing director, Ketchum Midwest;

Former senior VP of public relations and government affairs, Sears, Roebuck & Co.

John “Jack” Felton,

APR, Fellow PRSA;

VP of public relations (ret), McCormick Spice;

President and CEO Emeritus, Institute for Public Relations.

Dr. Karla Gower,

Director of the Center;

Associate professor in the Advertising & Public Relations Department at UA.

William Heyman,

President and CEO, Heyman Associates;

Trustee of the Institute for Public Relations

Dr. Linda Hon,

Professor and senior associate dean of

The  College of Journalism & Communications, University of Florida;

Former editor, Journal of Public Relations Research

John “Jack” Koten,

Senior VP of corporate communications (ret), Ameritech;

Board member, Arthur W. Page Center;

Co-founder and past president of the Arthur W. Page Society.

Richard (Rick) Looser, Jr.,

Chief operating officer, The Cirlot Agency in Jackson, Miss;,

Outstanding Alumnus in Public Relations, UA.

Gary McCormick,

APR, Fellow PRSA;

Director of public relations, Scripps  Emerging Networks;

President of the Public Relations Society of America Foundation.

Betsy Plank,

APR, Fellow PRSA;

 Chair of the Center;

 Former corporate and public relations agency executive;

Past president of PRSA.

Maria Russell,

APR, Fellow PRSA;

Professor of public relations and director,

New Initiatives in Public Relations Education, Syracuse University.

Dr. Loy Singleton,

Dean of UA’s College of Communication & Information Sciences.

Andre Taylor,

VP of communications (ret), Alabama Gas Corporation;

Past president, UA’s National Alumni Association.

Ex Officio

National president of the Public Relations Student Society of America.

Incumbent:  Rebecca Timms,

Public relations student at Rowan University.

Members of the Advisory Board for The Plank Center (l-r): Jack Koten, Andre Taylor, Jack Felton, Dr. Culpepper Clark, Betsy Plank, Dr. Bruce Berger, Debra Shriver, Dr. Linda Hon, William Heyman, and Ronald Culp.