Kassewitz, Ruth B.

Armed with a bachelor of science degree in Journalism Management from Ohio State University in 1951, Ruth Eileen Blower Kassewitz (1928–) began her professional public relations career in that year as a copywriter in charge of print advertising for the Ohio Fuel Gas Company, Columbus, Ohio. She continued to work in advertising as an account secretary for the Merritt Owens Agency, Kansas City, Kansas, and in 1956–1959 was an account executive for Grant Advertising, Inc., Miami, Florida.

Kassewitz's first public relations position came in 1968 as director of public relations for an architecture and engineering firm, Spillis/Candela Partners. In 1969 she became director of communications for the Metro-Dade County Department of Housing and Urban Development. In this position, [Page 472]she organized public information programs in urban renewal communities, helping impoverished citizens to communicate and participate in government's earliest community involvement initiatives.

With the passage in 1972 of the Florida Government-in-the-Sunshine Law, Metro-Dade County appointed Kassewitz to establish the first office of public information. As communications officer, Kassewitz launched a public relations campaign to inform the voters of the services represented by the county's $550 million Decade of Progress bond issue. The campaign won a Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Silver Anvil Award in 1973.

Kassewitz ran a successful public information campaign for Metro Dade County's $70 million water bond issue in 1974. The campaign won first place in the WICI (Women in Communications, Inc.) Clarion Awards.

During Kassewitz's seven years as communication director, she built up her department from 1.5 to 13 staff persons to serve the public information needs of the county manager, all county departments, and citizen advisory boards. Kassewitz accomplished this using an “internal agency” budgeting model so that the net impact on the county budget remained at 1.5 persons.

From 1978 to 1991, Kassewitz was administrator for public relations at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Medical Center. She created the campaign “One of the Nation's Best,” helping to increase the county hospitals' private patient admissions. This campaign won the Florida Public Relations Association (FPRA) Golden Image Award. Kassewitz retired in 1990.

Kassewitz's public service and leadership in professional organizations includes serving as the first woman president in 1993–1994 of the Rotary Club of Miami, Inc. Rotary, founded in 1905, began accepting women into its membership only in 1987.

Kassewitz was Miami president of Women in Communication in 1962 and president of the Mental Health Association in 1982. She was president in 1963 of the Dade/Miami Lung Association and of the University of Miami Women's Guild in 1973–1974. She served on PRSA's national board of directors from 1974 to 1976 and was the South Florida PRSA Chapter president in 1969.

Now a public service/public relations consultant in Coral Gables, Kassewitz received the Miami PRSA Lifetime Achievement Award in 1975. Among her other awards are Woman of the Year from the University of Miami School of Medicine; the PRSA Paul M. Lund Community Service Award in 1993; the Distinguished Rotarian of the Year award, 1996; and Rotarian of the Year, International District award, 1999.