Roberts, Rosalee A.

Rosalee A. Roberts (1943–) was president in 1992 of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), the first and only Nebraskan elected and the fourth woman president. As president, she initiated the Visioning Committee, designed to re-create a strategic planning process to create the new direction and focus for PRSA into the next century. Also, she supervised a KPMG Peat Marwick complete resource and governance review of internal and external activities for PRSA. She supervised the completion of the first Professional Progression Guide to enable members to track their professional progress in the public relations profession.

As PRSA president, Roberts chaired the National Task Force on the Study of Ethical Issues, designed to increase awareness of ethical issues among PRSA members and the public relations profession and to aid in encouraging participation of senior level public relations practitioners.

Roberts is president of Rosalee Roberts Public Relations, Omaha, Nebraska, a public relations/marketing firm handling strategic planning, issues management, risk communications, reputation management, community relations, and media relations.

From 1995 to 1998, she was vice president of community relations and development and Executive Director, Children's Hospital Foundation for Children's Healthcare Services, Omaha, Nebraska. In this position, Roberts experienced in 1997 the international media story of the 3-year-old Woracek twins, who wandered into subzero temperatures in the middle of the night of January 17, 1997. She received worldwide media attention because of the twin's stay and release from Children's Hospital in Omaha, taking all calls in the high-profile story while protecting the children's and parents' wishes for privacy.

Roberts began her public relations career in 1965 after graduating from college and breaking an ankle in Quebec, Canada, where she'd gone to learn French so that she could enter the Peace Corps. She worked from 1969 to 1973 as promotions and public affairs manager at KETV–Channel 7. Then she joined Bozell public relations, working there for 20 years to become a partner at Bozell Worldwide, Inc., handling local, regional, and national clients.

Roberts was named national volunteer of the year in 1997 by the Arthritis Foundation and served on the boards of the Better Business Bureau, Child Saving Institute, Keep Omaha Beautiful, the Nebraska Humane Society, and the Omaha Literacy Council. Other civic activities include All Our Kids, a nonprofit youth mentoring and scholarship organization, and the Literacy Center for the Midlands.

Roberts received 2000 certification, Senior Level Ten, Environmental Risk Communications, from the Center for Risk Communications at Columbia [Page 756]University. In 1994, she was named to the College of Fellows of the Public Relations Society of America. In 2003, she chaired the subcommittee studying a PRSA foundation endowment for the PRSA College of Fellows.

Rosalee A. Roberts

Public Relations Society of America. Reprinted with permission.

Roberts has received numerous awards for her professional and civic activities, including being named Nebraska Citizen of Distinction by the governor of Nebraska, the Arthritis Foundation National Volunteer Award, many PRSA presidential citations, and Outstanding Woman of Distinction for Communications, YWCA.