John W. Felton served until 2004 as President and CEO of the Institute for Public Relations headquartered at the College of Journalism and Communications at the University of Florida.

A past national president of the Public Relations Society of America, Jack retired in 1995 as Vice President - Corporate Communications for the $1.8 billion McCormick Spice Company in Baltimore, Maryland. At McCormick, Jack and his staff were responsible for communications and public relations activities at 85 locations around the world.

Jack is a native of Roanoke, Virginia, and graduated from the University of Michigan in 1951 and received his Master's there in 1952. During the Korean War he served as Public Information Officer with the U.S. Air Force Strategic Air Command.

He joined Interstate Brands Corporation as Director of Public Relations and Public Affairs in 1969, after a variety of assignments with United States Steel Corporation in San Francisco, Chicago, Salt Lake City, Los Angeles and Pittsburgh.

At Interstate, his responsibilities included the promotion of the "Charlie Brown Specials" sponsored by the bakery-food firm on CBS television. He joined the McCormick Company in 1975, and was elected a Corporate Vice President in 1977.

His professional writing includes eight plays published by Baker's Plays, Boston, and an award-winning film, "The Bread Winners." He is editor of two books: "Pepper People" and the "New McCormick-Schilling Spice Cookbook." In 1974, he was awarded the George Washington medal from the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge for a play, "Segments in Stained Glass." Another of his plays, "Peace is an Olive Color," was produced for public television to celebrate the sesquicentennial of the state of Michigan.

In 1989, he was the first to receive the award as "Outstanding Public Relations Professional" for the state of Maryland. In 1991, he was named "Outstanding Professional of the Year" by PR News and was the 1992 recipient of the Gold Anvil, highest award of the Public Relations Society of America. He was awarded the David Ferguson Award in 1999 for "outstanding contributions to PR education" from the Educators Academy of PRSA. In 2002, he received the Arthur W. Page Society Distinguished Service Award, and in 2004, the Alexander Hamilton Medal for Lifetime Achievement by the Institute for Public Relations.