PR Society to Honor Wolfram
Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowA former longtime communications director for Lilly Endowment Inc. will receive the 2013 Indy PR Legend Award from the Indianapolis Public Relations Society. Gretchen Wolfram's career also included stops at the Indianapolis Star and the IUPUI News Bureau. August 6, 2013
News Release
(Indianapolis, Ind.) – Gretchen Wolfram, who served as communications director for Lilly Endowment for 21 years until her retirement last September, will be honored as the recipient of the 2013 “Indy PR Legend Award.” Presented by the Indianapolis Public Relations Society, the award will be presented to Wolfram at IPRS' monthly luncheon meeting on Wednesday, August 21, at Christ Church Cathedral on Monument Circle.
Tribute speeches will be presented at the event by N. Clay Robbins, president and CEO of Lilly Endowment Inc.; Eugene R. Tempel, Indiana University Foundation president emeritus and founding dean of the IU Lilly School of Philanthropy; and Ann Rein, the 2012 recipient of the IPRS Legend Award, who worked with Wolfram early in her career.
Gretchen Wolfram's lifelong love of communicating began at Broad Ripple High School, where she edited the yearbook. She graduated from Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, and took positions at the now-defunct Home Economics magazine in New York; and the Indianapolis Star, where she served as editor of Teen Star and was assistant editor of the Indianapolis Star Magazine.
In the summer of 1969, Wolfram moved to “the other side,” joining the Indiana University Medical Center News Bureau. It soon became known as the IUPUI News Bureau, and she was its managing editor and director. The year 1992 brought Wolfram to Lilly Endowment where she oversaw communications and creation of the organization's annual report.
As president of Women in Communications (formerly known as Theta Sigma Phi), Wolfram helped lead press tours the Soviet Union/Eastern Europe and to the Middle East and Greece. She was honored with local and national feature writing awards from the Women's Press Club and served as IPRS President in 2009. Wolfram currently serves on the Dean's Advisory Council for IUPUI's School of Liberal Arts.
“Gretchen Wolfram has been a key figure for many years in telling the stories of Indianapolis and two of its great institutions – Lilly Endowment and IUPUI,” says IPRS President Judy Kenninger. “She is the consummate professional and a person of extraordinary grace, and later this month, we'll officially make Gretchen a ‘legend.' I know many of her friends and colleagues look forward to celebrating this special honor with her.”
Ken Owen, executive director of media relations at DePauw University and a former Indianapolis TV news anchor (WISH, WRTV and WXIN) will emcee the award ceremony.
The Indy PR Legend Award was first presented in 2008 to James R. Hetherington, long-time Indianapolis journalist and public relations executive. The 2009 honoree was Robert L. Gildea, senior vice-president of Sease, Gerig & Associates, and Myra Borshoff Cook, principal of Borshoff, was the 2010 recipient. Carl Henn, executive producer of the Philharmonic Orchestra of Indianapolis, was the 2011 award winner. As noted above, Ann Rein was the 2012 honoree.
The Indianapolis Public Relations Society, formed in 1949, is a limited membership organization comprised of senior level public relations personnel.
Source: Indianapolis Public Relations Society