Barkelew, Ann H.

Ann Barkelew has established a reputation for being one of the best public relations professionals in the field. Ms. Barkelew recently retired from her position as senior partner and founding general manager of Fleishman-Hillard Inc., an international communications agency, in 2001. She is now a senior counselor for the agency, providing expertise to Fleishman-Hillard worldwide on special projects.

Ann Barkelew was born in St. Joseph, Missouri, on March 21, 1935, to Alexander Hamilton, an engineer, and Ruth Welsh Hamilton, a teacher. At the age of 12, she moved with her family to Jefferson City, Missouri. Ms. Barkelew recalls that her mother always worked, from the time Ann was little. She characterized her as an “incredible person” (Barkelew, personal communication, October 20, 2003). Active and involved, Barkelew's mother served as a strong role model for working women. Her father's political career helped Barkelew embrace a life of service, encouraging her to not stand idly by, but to jump in and take an active role in her community. A Girl Scout throughout her public school years, Barkelew credits this experience as very important in shaping her personality. Ms. Barkelew had one brother, William Warren Hamilton, who died in 1984.

Ms. Barkelew graduated from Central Missouri State University with a bachelor's degree in 1957. After graduating, she taught English and journalism in high schools in California and Missouri until she entered a master's program in 1965. She finished her master's degree in 1966, taking a year's leave of absence from her regular job to complete this advanced degree at the University of Missouricolumbia. Her master's thesis, which organized a program of public relations for the Santa Barbara schools, so impressed administrators that she was invited to work in the district's central office to implement the public relations program. Although Ms. Barkelew acknowledges that she never wished to be an administrator, this assignment allowed her to test her management skills and propelled her into a very successful public relations career.

She worked in community relations for the Santa Barbara schools from 1966 to 1971. From 1972 until 1981, she was the chief public information officer for the Los Angeles County Office of Education. Ms. Barkelew characterized the Compton, California, teachers' strike as the first big strike in a series of strikes in the 1970s, which created great challenges for her and for California public education. Rather than deal with strikes once they began, Barkelew encouraged administrators to work to avert strikes. This was during a period of severe enrollment decline and the closing of more than 100 secondary schools in Los Angeles County. Barkelew's formula for using communication to manage these crises included honest communication with teachers about the school district's finances. She believed in keeping school employees informed because she saw them as the most important group in the school system.

She entered the field of corporate public relations in 1981, when Munsingwear tapped her to help manage a major plant closing in Minnesota, followed by plant closings around the country. She joined Munsingwear Inc. as the vice president of corporate relations in order to build a corporate communications department. What was supposed to be a six-month leave of absence from Los Angeles County turned into a permanent move to Minnesota, a state she says she quickly came to love.

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