Credentials and Accomplishments
Over 30-plus years, I have – in addition to the honors and awards noted above – earned a number of professional credentials and have achieved a number of significant accomplishments.  These include:

Accredited in Public Relations (APR) – Professional credentialing from the Public Relations Society of America, this is the industry standard for high standing and professional competence.  To earn accreditation, you must have five years of solid professional experience and pass a rigorous written and oral exam.  Eighty percent of those who take the test – after ten years’ experience – fail the exam on their first attempt.  In short, this is no walk in the park.

In 1978, I passed my APR written and oral exams just three weeks after fulfilling the five-year minimum of professional experience; in doing so, I became the youngest (to that time) person to have ever earned accreditation from PRSA.

Fellowship – This recognition was offered by the professional PR/Marketing society of the American Hospital Association.  In 1984, I became the first person to earn a Fellowship in this society (in 1983, a dozen persons were awarded Fellowships for career-long contributions to the hospital public relations field).  To earn the Fellowship, I had to meet career-experience guidelines, then produce a comprehensive Fellowship paper that advanced the state of the art in hospital marketing communications.

In preparing the Fellowship paper, I conducted original and secondary research and wrote a major paper – think “masters thesis” – on the confluence of public relations, advertising and marketing in a hospital setting.  This Fellowship Paper was published by the American Hospital Association and widely distributed to hospitals throughout the U.S.  While nearly two decades old, the basic findings continue to hold up in the marketplace.

Academic – On two separate occasions, I served as an adjunct professor. In 1982-83, I taught advanced PR (for honors graduating seniors) at Middle Tennessee State; and in 1992-1993, I taught several different marketing courses – including channel marketing – at University of Nevada-Las Vegas.