GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA [September 25, 2008] - Sir Martin Sorrell, Group Chief Executive of WPP, and Steven J. Harris, Vice President of Global Communications for General Motors, will headline the Institute for Public Relations' Annual Distinguished Lecture & Awards Dinner. The November 5 event will be at The Yale Club in New York City.

Sir Martin Sorrell's speech will be titled, "Public Relations: The Story Behind a Remarkable Renaissance." The worldwide group that Sorrell founded includes more than 100 companies and provides communications services to global, multinational and local clients in 106 countries.

The Alexander Hamilton Medal, the Institute's highest honor, will be awarded to Steve Harris for lifetime achievement in public relations. Harris has spent more than 40 years in communications, mostly in the field of auto manufacturing. He is one of the first recipients of the SABRE Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Public Relations. In 2007, Harris was inducted into the Arthur W. Page Society's Hall of Fame. Harris served on the Institute's Board of Trustees from 1999-2003.

The event will include a cocktail reception, dinner and program. Tickets can be purchased through the Institute Web site or through Jenn Moyer, 352-392-0280. The cost is $400 per person or $4,000 for a table of 10.

The Institute for Public Relations is an independent nonprofit dedicated to the science beneath the art of public relations™, bridging the academy and the profession, supporting PR research and mainstreaming this knowledge into practice through PR education.