Plank, Betsy

Betsy Ann Plank is widely acknowledged as a pathfinder and legend in public relations. Her career, spanning more than 55 years, is filled with “firsts.” Indeed, many in the field consider her public relations' First Lady.

Plank is the first woman to have served as president of the Public Relations Society of America (PSRA). She is the first and only person to be selected for three of PRSA's top individual awards: the Gold Anvil Award (1977) for being the outstanding U.S. professional, the Paul M. Lund Public Service Award (1989) for exemplary civic and community work, and the first Patrick Jackson Award (2001) for distinguished service to PRSA. Plank is the first woman elected by readers of Public Relations News as Professional of the Year (1979) and also was named one of the World's 40 Outstanding Public Relations Leaders by the same publication in 1984. She was the first recipient of both the Arthur W. Page Society's Distinguished Service (formerly Lifetime Achievement) Award (2000) and PRSA Educators Academy's David W. Ferguson Award (1997) for exceptional contributions by a practitioner to public relations education.

In 2000, the Institute for Public Relations honored Plank with its highest award, the Alexander Hamilton Award, in recognition of her major contributions to the practice of public relations. In 2001, she was inducted into the Communication Hall of Fame at the University of Alabama, her alma mater. Five other universities similarly have recognized her as an outstanding public relations professional.

Despite all the accolades, Plank has refused to view her achievements as anything extraordinary. She stated,

Plank was born on April 3, 1924, in Tusculoosa, Alabama. She attended her hometown university, the University of Alabama, where she earned a bachelor's degree in history, with English literature as a minor, in 1944. In later years, Plank liked to point out that there was no such thing as a public relations major when she attended college, and for that reason she became a leading advocate of public relations education.

Her career in public relations began by serendipity in 1947. At the time, she had moved to Chicago in search of continuing a career in radio broadcasting—without success. But then she met one of the city's only women executives, Duffy Schwartz, Midwest director of the Advertising Council, who became her first mentor. Schwartz recommended Plank for a temporary position at a public relations and fundraising agency serving nonprofit organizations and coached her in the unfamiliar field. After several months, Plank was offered a full-time position and worked at that agency and others throughout the 1950s.

In 1960, Plank joined Daniel J. Edelman, Inc. (now Edelman Public Relations Worldwide) and served as executive vice president until 1973. Plank then became director of public relations planning for AT&T before transferring to Illinois Bell (now SBC Communications Inc.), where she was the first woman to head a company department, directing external affairs and a staff of 102.

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