Former PRSA president named visiting professor at UF

May 31, 2006

GAINESVILLE, Fla. –– Del Galloway, former president and chief executive officer of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), will translate his 23 years of corporate and agency experience into classroom lessons this fall as the Freedom Forum Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of Florida’s College of Journalism and Communications.

“I’ll leverage my experience and network to help the students and faculty,” said Galloway, who, along with his partners, recently sold Jacksonville-based Husk Jennings Galloway + Partners to On Ideas. HJG+P was a full service public relations and advertising agency. He continues to serve as a consultant to On Ideas.

Galloway is no stranger to the classroom — he has taught at UF, the University of North Florida and Jacksonville University. Since earning his master’s degree in 1983 (he received his bachelor’s degree in 1981), he has visited four or five times a year as a member of the College of Journalism and Communications’ Board of Advocates and the Department of Public Relations’ Advisory Board, which he also chaired.

“I have a good grasp of the college and its various programs,” said Galloway, who worked for AT&T American Transtech and Young & Rubicam. “I enjoy teaching. The students keep you honest. They ask questions like, ‘But why do you do it that way?,’ which keeps you on your toes and makes you pause and explain.”

The Freedom Forum Distinguished Visiting Professorship rotates among the college’s four departments: advertising, journalism, public relations and telecommunication. Former ESPN Vice President/Editor-at-Large John Marvel recently completed a semester under the program for the Department of Journalism.

“Del’s professional achievements and stature make him an ideal choice for this professorship,” Dean Terry Hynes said. “He will enrich the students’ learning experience and provide an important professional perspective for other faculty about current industry issues and challenges. This is the kind of experience that helps us strengthen the college’s national position as one of the very best public relations programs.”

The college is a national leader in the professional education of future journalists and other communications practitioners. Nationally accredited, it has programs in advertising, print and broadcast journalism, public relations, and telecommunication production and operations, as well as graduate-level programs in science/health communication, documentary, media law, political communication, international communication, and other specialties.