Harold Burson, in a survey conducted by PRWeek, was described as "the century's most
influential PR figure." This recognition is a culmination of more than fifty years of
serving as counselor to and confidante of corporate CEOs, government leaders and heads of
public sector institutions.
PRWeek's summary of his career recapitulates his role as public relations preeminent
practitioner:
"The architect of the largest public relations agency in the world today,
Burson-Marsteller chairman Harold Burson's contribution is immense in many other ways
besides. He started practicing the concept of integrated marketing decades before the term
was even invented. He brought PR into the advertising business at Young & Rubicam as an
equal (it's arguably never been achieved again). His development of training programs set
the benchmark that other agencies have only recently caught up with. He has personally
sponsored and supported programs, industry bodies, universities and charities to improve
the profession. His mentoring of talent has spawned a whole wave of ex-Burson PR agency
start-ups. He created a unique Burson culture that still unites former employees. And last
but certainly not least, his personal counsel has enlightened the thinking of boardrooms at
many Fortune 100 companies and across the globe."
Mr. Burson has contributed to the public relations industry and worldwide community as a
member and leader of several organizations, among them: Presidential appointee to the Fine
Arts Commission, Washington, 1981-1985; Chairman of the National Council on Economic
Education; trustee of The Economics Club of New York; Chairman of the USIA Public Relations
Advisory Committee, and board member of the World Wildlife Fund (Geneva). He was elected to
the Horatio Alger Society in 1986 and is an Executive Council Member of the Center for the
Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi.
Mr. Burson is founder of the Kennedy Center Corporate Fund, Washington, D.C., a director
of Kennedy Center Productions, Inc., and a trustee and founder of the Fortas Chamber Music
Fund. He is a member of the New York Society of Security Analysts, the New York Academy of
Medicine, the President's Advisory Board of the New York Academy of Sciences and the
Advisory Board of the Business Council for International Understanding. He was Chairman of
the Public Relations Seminar in 1984.
Mr. Burson has received numerous honors and awards, including The Public Relations
Society of America Gold Anvil Award (1980), and the Arthur W. Page Society Hall of Fame
Award (1991). He was named Public Relations Professional of the Year by Public Relations
News (1977 and 1989). He received the Alexander Hamilton Medal from the Institute of Public
Relations (1999); the Athena Award from the Partnership for Women's Health at Columbia
University School of Medicine (2000); PRSA Atlas Award for International Achievement
(1998); the John W. Hill Award for Leadership from the New York Chapter of PRSA (1993).
He also received the Millennium Award, University of Florida, College of Journalism (2000),
and was the First Executive-in-Residence at the University of Kentucky, College of
Communications (2000).
Boston University honored him with a Doctor of Humane Letters degree (hon.) in 1988. He
is a graduate of the University of Mississippi and was elected to the Alumni Hall of Fame
in 1986. He is a veteran of World War II with service as a combat engineer in France,
Belgium, Holland and Germany. As an Army news correspondent for American Forces Network,
he covered the Nuremberg Trial of leading Nazi war criminals.
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