GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Dr. Ansgar Zerfass, a leader in corporate communication research, will receive the 2014 Pathfinder Award, the highest academic honor bestowed by the Institute for Public Relations (IPR) in the United States. Dr. Zerfass, professor and chair of strategic communication at the University of Leipzig in Germany, will present “Challenges for Communication Leaders – Insights from International Research” at the third annual Trustees Research Symposium on November 13 in New York City.
The research symposium will feature a panel of speakers reviewing progress in the field and research-based insights on priority topics identified by the Trustees as important to the practice. Zerfass will be presented with the Pathfinder award that night at IPR’s Annual Distinguished Lecture & Awards Dinner featuring speaker Richard Dobbs, director of the McKinsey Global Institute, and Alexander Hamilton Medal winner Ray Kotcher, chairman & senior partner of Ketchum.
Zerfass is scientific director of the Academic Society for Corporate Leadership and Communication, an initiative initiated by chief corporate communications officers of more than 30 global companies based in the German-speaking countries. This initiative supports knowledge transfer and funds leading-edge research at various universities. He is also president of the European Public Relations Education and Research Association, Brussels.
Zerfass holds a university degree and doctorate in business administration and a postdoctoral lecture qualification (Habilitation) in communication science. He wrote and edited 30 books, 37 research reports and more than 200 articles and book chapters on corporate communications and interactive communication, including the “Handbook of Corporate Communication” and “Handbook Online PR” (in German) and “Routledge Handbook of Strategic Communication.” He has contributed to the international body of knowledge by establishing the European Communication Monitor, the largest annual study in strategic communications worldwide, since 2007. The survey covers more than 40 countries on the old continent and has stimulated a parallel study in Latin America recently.
The Institute for Public Relations is an independent foundation dedicated to the science beneath the art of public relations™ and focused on research that is immediately applicable in communications practice. Its research is available free at instituteforpr.org and provides the basis for the organization’s professional conferences and events.
Contact: Sarah Jackson
PR Associate, Institute for Public Relations
associate@instituteforpr.org
352-294-1633
Another important sign that the ipr looks beyond its borders. Well done and congratulations to Ansgar.
A wonderful choice for the Pathfinder Award. Congratulations, Ansgar.