DANIEL EDELMAN FIRST RECIPIENT OF DEAN’S MEDAL FOR PUBLIC SERVICE
March 02, 2005, New York -- The Columbia Graduate School of Journalism has announced that it will present the inaugural Dean’s Medal for Public Service to Daniel J. Edelman, founder and chair of Daniel J. Edelman, Inc., the largest independent public relations firm in the world.
The medal recognizes alumni who have made a significant contribution to society through professional accomplishments and civic involvement. It honors extraordinary lifetime achievement by Columbia University Journalism School graduates, including those who have had outstanding and distinguished careers in fields outside of journalism.
“We want to emphasize in particular their contributions as citizens, as well as professionally,” said Nicholas Lemann, dean of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, who will award the medal. “There could be no better initial recipient than Daniel Edelman, who is both a world leader in his field and an outstandingly generous and public-spirited man.”
The Dean’s Medal will be presented to Edelman on Saturday, April 16, at a luncheon ceremony to be held during the Journalism School’s Alumni Weekend.
Edelman’s achievements span multiple arenas and causes, ranging from violence prevention to autism. One of his priorities as a business leader has been his responsibility to “give back” via charities, including Chicago Cares and the Greater Chicago Food Depository. He also serves on the Board of The Chicago Project for Violence Prevention and the Committee for Economic Growth of Israel. Over the years Edelman has served on many other boards, including: Illinois Children’s Home and Aid Society; Lyric Opera of Chicago; Northwestern University Music School; and the Save the Children Alliance. He is also a former chair of the University of Chicago Library Board.
The Edelman U.S. network provides pro bono support to a range of national institutions including Cure Autism Now; America’s Promise; and Global Business Coalition (GBC), which helps to focus the abilities of the global business community to end the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Edelman also led an online public information campaign for residents and businesses in the aftermath of 9/11; helped the World Economic Forum run their media relations for the annual gathering of world leaders; and helped the American Red Cross reach out to the Atlanta corporate community.
“It’s a great honor for me to receive the first annual Dean’s Award,” said Daniel Edelman. “Achieving the master’s degree in journalism at Columbia represented a very important aspect of my training in journalism. It will be very uplifting for me emotionally to be back in that magnificent Low Memorial Library to receive this recognition.”
Edelman, a native New Yorker, graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Columbia College and earned a master’s degree from the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism in 1941. During World War II, he was an enlisted man and officer in the U.S. Army in psychological warfare in England, France and Germany and received four battle stars and the Commendation Medal. He was a news writer for CBS before moving into public relations in New York. He started his firm in Chicago in 1952.
The recipient of numerous awards, Edelman was voted the 1993 “PR Professional of the Year” by readers of PR News and was an Inside PR Creative All-Star for 1994. He was inducted into the Arthur Page Society’s Hall of Fame in 1997. In 1998, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from Inside PR magazine and was selected for the Chicago Business Hall of Fame by Junior Achievement. In 1999, he received the highest honor accorded in the public relations field - the Gold Anvil Award from Public Relations Society of America (PRSA). His firm has won 35 Silver Anvils awarded by the PRSA and was selected 1993 “Agency of the Year” in the Inside PR magazine survey of public relations firms. In 2003, Edelman was named “Agency of the Year” by the Holmes Report, and was recently named one of the “Best Agencies in 2004” by Advertising Age.
Daniel J. Edelman, Inc., the parent company of Edelman and Zeno public relations generated $255 million in fee revenue in 2004. The firm has approximately 1900 employees located in 47 offices in Asia Canada, Europe, Latin America and the U.S.
For almost a century, the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism has been preparing journalists in a program that stresses academic rigor, ethics, journalistic inquiry and professional practice. Founded by Joseph Pulitzer in 1912, the school offers both Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy degrees.
|
Madeleine Perez,
212.854.7884 mp2168@columbia.edu |