Laurie J. Wilson is a recently retired, award-winning professor of communications at Brigham Young University. In 2001, she was recognized by PRSA as the nation’s Outstanding Educator. In 1990, she was recognized as the Public Relations Student Society of America Outstanding Faculty Adviser and subsequently served four years as the national faculty adviser. She received a Utah Golden Spike award as Professional of the Year in 2010. In 1995, she was inducted into the PRSSA Hall of Fame. Wilson has also received the prestigious Karl G. Maeser Teaching Award and three Student Alumni ssociation Excellence in Teaching Awards from BYU.
Wilson received her Ph.D. from American University in Washington, D.C., after working in public relations and marketing for several years. She joined the BYU faculty in 1989, where she has served as chair of the communications department and of the public relations program. She also served six years as the university’s director of internships. At the same time, Wilson co-chaired a national PRSA task force on internships, which created the first-ever standards for quality public relations internships. She has served as national chair for a number of education initiatives and task forces in PRSA, has served in the public relations division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, and has served on the diversity task force of the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication. She represented PRSA on the Joint Commission on Public Relations Education, chairing the undergraduate curriculum committee. She has served on site teams accrediting communications programs for the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications and leads site visit teams certifying schools in public relations education for PRSA. She is on the editorial boards of the “Journal of Public Relations Research” and the “Journal of Promotion Management.”
Wilson’s areas of expertise, research and publication include strategic planning and issue management, corporate social responsibility and building community partnerships. She consults regularly in those areas and is an educational consultant to communications programs. In addition to this book, Wilson has co-authored three other communications books. She also serves in the local United Way where she was a member of the executive board for 20 years.