The Public Relations Society of America Houston Chapter was founded in 1950. Ralph Frede, APR, Fellow PRSA, who was on the national accreditation committee, approached Philip Taggart in 1970 about starting the accreditation program in Texas. Phil, who was working in Dallas at the time, agreed and took the test himself. 

The late Sabra Gill, APR, was the first female president of the organization in 1976. Earliest memories are that PRSA Houston met at the Shamrock Hotel in the Texas Medical Center in the 1980s.

The first Excalibur Awards were presented in 1985 to four winners. The late Will Osterloh, APR, created the competition in 1984 and chose the name. Hank Moore, APR, chaired the event for several years and greatly expanded the categories to turn it into one of the Chapter’s greatest revenue producers.

PRSA Houston was one of the organizers of the Southwest Communicators Conference and Exhibition in 1986 which was chaired by George Nelson, APR, from PRSA Houston and by Michael Reynolds, ABC, APR, from the International Association of Business Communicators Houston Chapter. The event involved several communications organizations.

George Nelson, APR, and Guy Brown, II, APR, developed the concept of Special Interest Groups in the late 1980s and they included Media, Environmental and Young Practitioners. By the late 1980’s the Chapter had grown and volunteers could no longer handle event registrations. So, Jo Hunt was hired to do this for $25/month.

The first Media Day was held on Sept. 11, 1989, and featured 19 media leaders. It was chaired by Paula Ruth, APR, who also chaired the event in 1990 at the Doubletree Hotel Post Oak. Eydie Pengelly, APR, chaired the event in 1991 at the Majestic Metro. Media Day was one of the first events held at the then newly remodeled, historical movie theatre. PRSA Houston added Special Interest Groups in International, Counselors, Nonprofit and Professional Services in 1991 and Young Professionals changed its name to NuPros. PRSA Houston met at the Junior League for most of the 1990s.

Guy Brown II, APR, was elected a director-at-large to PRSA’s national board, only the second person to do that in PRSA Houston history. As Chapter services expanded, Wilson Lyle was hired, beginning in January 1992, to oversee the membership database and also do post card mailings.

The Chapter hosted the Southwest District Leadership Conference in January 1992. PRSA Houston was recognized in 1992 with a National Banner Award for best chapters. (This program has since ended.)

The chapter launched its first website in 1996. The first Legacy Award was presented to James W. Hart, Jr. on Dec. 9, 1998.  Mr. Hart retired from Duke Energy on March 1, 1998.  At that time he was a member of the PRSA Houston Board of Directors as the only non-accredited board member in a bylaws change at the time.

PRSA Houston hosted the Southwest District Conference in 1999 under the leadership of Jack Barnett, APR, and Melissa Adams. The Chapter finished 1999 with 523 members, the ninth largest.

The last paper Prolog was in December 1999 after a membership survey done in 1998 recommended moving to email communications. The last printed directory was 2000.

In 2001, under the leadership of PRSA Houston President Ben Wheatley, APR, ABC, and the late Sabra Gill, APR, the Public Relations Foundation of Houston (PRFH) was established as a fund within the Greater Houston Community Foundation.  The PRFH began awarding college scholarships in 2006, and the annual award of $3,000 has become one of the largest scholarships awarded by the profession in the United States.

The chapter hired its first contract administrator in January 2004 to consolidate the work being done by a separate bookkeeper and reservations service.  PRSA Houston re-launched its New Professionals group, led by Kelly Papinchak (George), who went on to become  National New Professionals President.

In 2004, Media Day became PR Day, a reflection that members do more than media relations in an event chaired by Terri Larson before she was president or accredited. PRSA Houston also redid its website in 2004 and moved from the City Club to the Courtyard on Saint James for monthly meetings. We moved to the Briar Club in January 2008. We received an award in 2009 for greatest growth in 2008 at 9.3% for an extra large chapter with over 400 members based on the number of national members in our service area. At that point our two year growth was 9.8%.

We hosted a national accreditation jump start program in 2010 and 2011, organized by Kelly George, APR.

The present website went live in November 2011.

PRSA Houston Presidents

These are the men and women who have led PRSA Houston since its founding. We thank them for their leadership and dedication to the profession.

• 1950 James A. Clark
• 1952 Henry C. Webb
• 1954 Emerson G. Smith
• 1955 John Mortimer
• 1956 J. Michael Murphy
• 1957 Tom Brawner
• 1958 Jack Shannon
• 1960 Sam E. Drake
• 1961 Pat J. Nicholson, APR (deceased)
• 1962 Val Jean McCoy
• 1963 Hal Hazelrigg
• 1964 Robert Fitzpatrick
• 1965 J.L. Bart, Jr., APR (deceased)
• 1966 Ralph Frede, APR, Fellow PRSA (deceased, Jan. 4, 2005)
• 1967 Robert Stine (deceased)
• 1968 Bill Robertson
• 1969 Russell Burget
• 1970 Alvin R. Busse, APR, Fellow PRSA (deceased, July 26, 2010)
• 1971 Stewart P. Smith
• 1972 Culver Turlington, APR (deceased)
• 1973 Fred Wichlep, APR
• 1974 R. Robert Rowley, APR (deceased)
• 1975 Arthur L. Dowling, APR
• 1976 Sabra H. Gill, APR (deceased March 2009)
• 1977 H. Dale Henderson (deceased)
• 1978 James H. Powers (deceased)
• 1979 William McElwain
• 1980 Nancy C. Davis
• 1981 James Eager
• 1982 Farris Block, APR (deceased)
• 1983 Phil Taggart, APR
• 1984 David R. Dodrill, APR
• 1985 Margot Dimond, APR
• 1986 Marvin Brown, APR
• 1986 Robert E. Haine, APR (after Marvin’s job changed)
• 1987 Guy E. Brown, II, APR
• 1988 Robert E. Haine, APR
• 1989 Wellington Osterloh, APR, Fellow PRSA (deceased April 7, 2005)
• 1990 George Nelson
• 1991 Hank Moore, APR, Fellow PRSA
• 1992 Dr. Barbara Langham, APR
• 1993 Thomas K. Stewart, APR, Fellow PRSA
• 1994 D. Gayle McNutt, APR, Fellow PRSA
• 1995 Maureen Civiletto, APR
• 1996 Kay Kendall, APR
• 1997 Woody Madden, APR
• 1998 Graham Painter, APR
• 1999 Judi Martin, APR
• 2000 Carolyn Mayo, APR
• 2001 Ben Wheatley, ABC, APR
• 2002 Julie Gorling, APR
• 2003 Kris Taylor, APR
• 2004 Dan Keeney, APR
• 2005 Cindy Suggs, APR
• 2006 Sally Ramsay
• 2007 Lisa Walsh
• 2008 Priscilla Tinsley
• 2009 Terri Larson
• 2010 Stephanie Dedeaux, APR
• 2011 Michelle McCormick
• 2012 Edward Davis, III

Legacy Award Winners

• 1998 James W. Hart (verified)
• 2000 Ralph Frede, APR, Fellow PRSA
• 2001 Tom Stewart, APR, Fellow PRSA
• 2002 Sabra Gill, APR, Fellow PRSA
• 2003 Gayle McNutt, APR, Fellow PRSA
• 2004 Will Osterloh, APR, Fellow PRSA
• 2005 Guy Brown, APR
• 2006 Graham Painter, APR
• 2007 Dr. Robert Heath, APR
• 2008 Phillip Taggart, APR
• 2009 Julie Fix, APR, Fellow PRSA
• 2010 Kris Taylor, APR
• 2011 Dr. Barbara Langham, APR

* If you see errors on this page or have additional information to add, please notify Paula Ruth, APR.