Jeffrey Douglas named to Public Relations Society of America's College of Fellows
Jeffrey Douglas, of Christiansburg, Va., college communications manager for the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Tech, has been honored by the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) by designating him as a member of its College of Fellows.
To be considered for the College of Fellows, a PRSA member must have practiced public relations for 20 or more years, demonstrated superior capability as a practitioner, exhibited personal and professional qualities that serve as a role model for other practitioners and advanced the state of the profession. Criteria also include being accredited, having passed rigorous oral and written examinations involving a depth of knowledge in the strategic analysis of public relations issues including program, research, ethics, legal issues, communications, and other areas. Only 430 of PRSA's almost 20,000 members have been accorded this distinguished honor.
Douglas will be inducted officially in to the College of Fellows on Saturday, Oct. 23 at a reception and dinner held in the Union League Club in New York, N.Y.. During the ceremony he will be presented with a Fellow medallion.
"I am extraordinarily proud to be in a society whose members make a lifelong commitment not only to PRSA, but to the profession through the superior practice of public relations," said PRSA President Del Galloway. "As a mentor and a role model, Jeff Douglas contributes immeasurably to the growth of our profession and the respect accorded to it."
A member of the Virginia Tech staff since 1981, Douglas is responsible for the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine's communications programs, including publications production, media relations, government relations, fundraising communications and special events. He received his bachelor's and master's degrees from Radford University. Douglas and his wife, Ellen, have one daughter.
The Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine (VMRCVM) is a two-state, three-campus professional school operated by the land-grant universities of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg and the University of Maryland at College Park. Its flagship facilities, based at Virginia Tech, include the Veterinary Teaching Hospital, which treats more than 40,000 animals annually. Other campuses include the Marion duPont Scott Equine Medical Center in Leesburg, Va., and the Avrum Gudelsky Veterinary Center at College Park, home of the Center for Government and Corporate Veterinary Medicine. The VMRCVM annually enrolls approximately 500 Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and graduate students, is a leading biomedical and clinical research center, and provides professional continuing education services for veterinarians practicing throughout the two states.
Founded in 1872 as a land-grant college, Virginia Tech has grown to become the largest university in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Today, Virginia Tech's eight colleges are dedicated to putting knowledge to work through teaching, research, and outreach activities and to fulfilling its vision to be among the top research universities in the nation. At its 2,600-acre main campus located in Blacksburg and other campus centers in Northern Virginia, Southwest Virginia, Hampton Roads, Richmond, and Roanoke, Virginia Tech enrolls more than 28,000 full- and part-time undergraduate and graduate students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries in 170 academic degree programs.
