Contact: Ralph Derickson

Jack Guthrie

Presentation of the award to Guthrie is part of the James C. Bowling Executive-in-Residence Lecture Series activities at UK Oct. l7 and 18. On Oct. 17, Dick Truitt, a principal of Truitt Partners LLC, delivered the 2002 James C. Bowling Executive-in-Residence Lecture at 6 p.m. in the Boone Center.

Dick Truitt

To read a story on Richard Truitt's remarks, click here.

Oct. 14, 2002 (Lexington, Ky.) -- Jack Guthrie, the founder of one of Kentucky's best known public relations firms, will receive a University of Kentucky Lifetime Achievement Award for Public Relations from UK's School of Journalism and Telecommunications.

The award will be presented at a luncheon in Guthrie's honor on Friday, Oct. 18, at the Boone Center.

Guthrie, a UK alumnus and former member of the school's board of trustees, is chairman and chief executive officer of Guthrie/Mayes Public Relations, of Louisville. The firm is one of Kentucky's largest independently-owned public relations firms.

Presentation of the award to Guthrie is part of the James C. Bowling Executive-in-Residence Lecture Series activities . On Oct. 17, Dick Truitt, a principal of Truitt Partners LLC, delivered the 2002 James C. Bowling Executive-in-Residence Lecture at 6 p.m. in the Boone Center. The school's alumni association also sponsors the Bowling lecture.

Guthrie started his public relations career with Philip Morris Inc. in New York City in 1964. He returned to Louisville in 1971 to serve as executive vice president of the Kentucky Derby Festival and currently serves as an honorary director. Under his direction the festival achieved national prominence. Guthrie launched his own public relations firm in 1977.

The firm has served many major corporations, including Philip Morris, Toyota Motor Manufacturing, United Parcel Service and Eli Lilly & Co. In 1987, Guthrie was one of the founding partners of The WORLDCOM Public Relations Group, the largest network of independent public relations firms in the world.

He was named "Kentucky's Outstanding Public Relations Executive" in 1978 by Western Kentucky University. In 1983, he was inducted into the Communicators Hall of Fame by the Public Relations Society of America. He has received numerous other awards, including induction into Trinity High School's Hall of Fame. Guthrie is also the only public relations executive to serve as president of the Louisville Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.

Guthrie was president of UK's National Alumni Association in 1988 and is immediate past-president of UK's School of Journalism Alumni Association. As a UK undergraduate, he was editor of the Kentucky Kernel, UK's daily student newspaper and a member of Sigma Chi social fraternity. He was named a "Significant Sig" in 1996, the national fraternity's highest honor.

Truitt, presenter of the Bowling Executive-in-Residence Lecture, formed his own communications consulting company in 1991. He also was president of Doremus & Co., a large corporate/financial advertising and public relations agency, and served 26 years at Carl Byoir & Associates where he became executive vice president in charge of U.S. operations and directly supervised the firm's office in Washington, D.C.

Earlier in his career, Truitt was a business reporter at the Chicago Tribune. He holds bachelor's and master's degrees in journalism from Northwestern University.

Truitt has counseled senior management at Hallmark, Honeywell, Kimberly-Clark, Fisher-Price, Delta Airlines, Citicorp and a number of prominent industry associations. His book, "Strategic Public Relations Counseling," was published in 1987.

In addtion to delivering the Bowling lecture, Truitt will meet with UK journalism students and faculty and, along with Guthrie, will visit classes in the School of Journalism and Telecommunications Friday, Oct. 18.