Individual Awards

Honor a professional you respect, and whose work has made a difference for public relations, by nominating them for a PRSA Individual Award.

The deadline for nominations is July 19, 2024.

Gold Anvil Award

The Gold Anvil is the Society’s highest individual Award.  It is considered to be the PRSA lifetime achievement award and is presented to a public relations practitioner who is a PRSA member in good standing with a minimum of 20 years of experience and whose accomplishments have made a major contribution to the profession. 

Outstanding Educator Award

The Outstanding Educator Award recognizes a PRSA member in good standing with a minimum of 20 years of experience in public relations who has made a significant contribution to the advancement of public relations education through college or university teaching.  

The Patrick Jackson Award for Distinguished Service to PRSA

This award, named in honor of the late Patrick Jackson, APR, Fellow PRSA, recognizes an experienced PRSA member in good standing who has significantly advanced PRSA by working to support Chapters, Districts and/or National, and inspiring fellow practitioners, professionally and personally.

Paul M. Lund Public Service Award

This award is named in honor of the late Paul M. Lund, vice president of public relations and employee communications of AT&T in the early 1970s. The Paul M. Lund Public Service Award is given to a PRSA member whose participation as a volunteer in important public activities has increased the common good and reflected credit on the Society. 

The John L. Paluszek Atlas Award for Lifetime Achievement in International Public Relations

This award is named after John Paluszek, APR, Fellow PRSA, currently executive editor of Business in Society, who served as President of PRSA in 1989 and Chair of the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communications Management in 2009. He has been a member of PRSA for more than 50 years. His public relations counseling career includes three decades as an executive at Ketchum, a global public relations firm. He is also the recipient of numerous PRSA honors, including the Atlas Award in 2010, the Patrick Jackson Award in 2002 and the Gold Anvil in 1994. The award recognizes a public relations practitioner who has made extraordinary contributions to the practice and profession of public relations in an international environment over the span of his or her career. The recipient need not be a member of PRSA. 

D. Parke Gibson Award

The D. Parke Gibson Award is PRSA’s highest individual award presented to a public relations professional that has contributed to the increased awareness of public relations within multicultural communities and participated in the promotion of issues that meet the special informational and educational needs of these diverse communities.

Public Relations Professional of the Year Award

The Public Relations Professional of the Year Award honors an individual or group who, in the previous year, represented the best in public relations as an outstanding communicator(s) or influencer(s), establishing or reinforcing the mutually beneficial relationship between an organization and the public or otherwise impacting the communications landscape.

Details