PRSA Announces 2022 Board Election; PRSSA Names Bateman Partner

PRSA announced the individuals elected to its 2022 Board of Directors. The nominations were made by the 2021 Board of Directors and the Nominating Committee, and were approved by the delegates of the 2021 PRSA Leadership Assembly, held in a virtual format on Oct. 16.

A communications professional with more than three decades of experience, Michelle Egan, APR, Fellow PRSA, was elected as chair of PRSA for 2023. The CCO of Alyeska Pipeline Service Company, Egan will serve as chair-elect in 2022. She has served as treasurer since 2020.

These candidates were also elected to the following Board positions:

Officers (one-year term):

• Treasurer – Joseph Abreu, APR

• Secretary – Jane N. Law, APR

Directors – District Representatives (two-year term):

• Midwest District – Jacqueline K. Clark, APR, Fellow PRSA

• North Pacific District – Karen Crabtree, APR

• Southeast District – Jessica Graham, APR, Fellow PRSA

• Southwest District – Heide Harrell, APR

• Sunshine District – Angela Walters Eveillard, MBA, APR

Director At-Large (two-year term):

• David Marshall, Ph.D., APR

They join incumbent Board members returning for 2022:

• Chair – Felicia Blow, Ph.D., APR

• Immediate Past Chair – Michelle Olson, APR

• East Central District – Jennifer Day, APR 

• Mid-Atlantic District – Jeff Wilson, APR

• Tri-State District – James Shackelford, APR

• Western District – Kaye Sweetser, Ph.D., APR+M, Fellow PRSA

• Director at-Large – Ray Day

PRSSA and the LRF Partner for Bateman Case Study Competition

PRSSA has selected The Lymphoma Research Foundation (LRF) as the client of the 2022 Bateman Case Study Competition. The Lymphoma Research Foundation is the nation’s largest nonprofit devoted exclusively to funding innovative lymphoma research and serving the lymphoma community through education programs, outreach initiatives and patient services.

The competition will challenge students with educating adolescents and young adults while revamping the foundation’s campaign efforts toward eradicating lymphoma. 

Three finalists will present their work to a panel of judges in May, and PRSSA will recognize the winning teams during the awards ceremony and dinner at ICON 2022.

The Bateman Case Study Competition originated in 1973, allowing PRSSA members to exercise the analytical skills required for PR problem solving. In 1983, the name of the competition was changed to honor the memory of the late J. Carroll Bateman, APR, a past PRSA president who was instrumental in launching PRSSA.

Kathleen Larey Lewton Receives 2021 David Ferguson Award

PRSA and the PRSA Educators Academy have awarded Kathleen Larey Lewton, APR, Fellow PRSA, with the 2021 David Ferguson Award. The award recognizes a PRSA member who has made outstanding contributions to PR education. 

Lewton, principal at Lewton, Seekins & Trester, served as PRSA’s president in 2001.

Her volunteer service reflects her commitment to advancing the profession, providing leadership to students, and substantial contributions to PR education. 

Through the years, Lewton has supported PRSSA, served on advisory boards for several different universities, counseled and judged the PRSSA Bateman Case Study competition and developed endowed scholarships for students as a PRSA Foundation trustee and president. 

PRSA Chair Michelle Olson, APR, Wins Bronze Stevie

PRSA Chair Michelle Olson, APR, has been named the winner of a Bronze Stevie Award. Olson was recognized in the Female Thought Leader of the Year – Government or Nonprofit category in the 18th annual Stevie Awards for Women in Business.  

The awards honor women executives, entrepreneurs, employees and the companies they run. The recipients will be celebrated during a virtual ceremony on Jan. 13.