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Celebrating Sixty Years of PR at COM

Alums and dignitaries mark anniversary of academia’s oldest public relations degree

Harold Burson, Carol Cone, and a number of other distinguished practitioners and academics helped Boston University celebrate the sixtieth anniversary its Master of Science Degree in Public Relations in April. The world’s oldest public relations degree was first offered during the 1947–48 academic year at BU.

 

The highlight of the daylong event was a panel discussion entitled Progress and Public Relations: A Look at Where We’ve Been and Where We’re Going. Burson and Cone were joined on the panel by Otto Lerbinger, professor emeritus at BU, and Paul Rand, president and CEO of Zóloco Group, part of Omnicom Group and Ketchum. Don Wright, professor of public relations at BU, moderated the discussion.

 

The spectrum of guests at varied stages of their public relations careers provided a diverse range of perspectives on the future of the field. Burson started the discussion with an optimistic assessment, and when asked how things have changed in the field, he highlighted the positive progression in the recognition and appreciation of the public relations function. Rand cautioned that these are “challenging and confusing times for public relations,” as the use of traditional and new media channels become more fragmented than before. He said these challenges have forced the field to “evolve and to continue to evolve” very quickly.
   
Opportunities created by new media, particularly the use of search engines and the idea of increased immediacy, were cited as important factors in shaping the future direction of public relations. Cone pointed out that the concept of a social contract continues to impact the practice. She describes a social contract as a recognition that “companies needs to earn their license to operate…by crossing (their) objectives with core needs of society.”

The ever-animated Dr. Lerbinger, who taught public relations courses at BU for fifty years, provoked sporadic laughter and applause throughout the session with his energy. He noted the increased presence of public relations as a management function and stressed that the field is ultimately an applied social science whose main purpose is forging, reinforcing, and changing attitudes and behavior.

 

The panel also strongly affirmed the importance of writing skills in public relations regardless of media used to disseminate messages. As Burson pointed out, “the changes we’re seeing are not in strategic thinking, but in creative and innovative ways we’re now delivering messages.”

Among the practitioners who attended the celebration were Bill Nielsen, the former corporate vice president for public affairs and corporate communications at Johnson & Johnson; Bob Grupp, president of the International Public Relation Associations; Stephen Greyser, professor emeritus at the Harvard Business School; and Keith O’Brien, editor-in-chief of PR Week.

 

Public relations education in BU’s College of Communication is part of the Department of Mass Communication, Advertising and Public Relations which earlier this academic year was named as first in the nation in the Chronicle of Higher Education’s Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index, a highly-respected ranking based upon scholarly publications, grants, and awards.