NEW YORK, NY — September 10, 2012 — The Arthur W. Page Society has honored Howard Paster, former EVP and head of public relations and public affairs at WPP Group, with the 2012 Hall of Fame Award. Paster, who died in 2011, will receive this prestigious award posthumously.
The Hall of Fame Award is the Page Society's highest recognition, given in honor of lifetime achievement in a distinguished career of leadership in corporate communications and a strong commitment to the Page Principles.
Paster's career spanned four decades and he was known for being a formidable presence on Capitol Hill and within lobbying circles. He worked as an adviser to former President Bill Clinton, where he is widely credited with having achieved passage of the Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 and the North American Free Trade Agreement and also served as director of the White House Office of Legislative Affairs. He served as chairman and CEO of Hill & Knowlton from 1994 through 2002, and later went on to oversee the PR group at WPP, which includes Hill & Knowlton, Cohn & Wolfe and Burson-Marsteller.
"Howard Paster was that rare leader who excelled in both politics and business. Most importantly, he did so while always living the Page Principles -- especially 'Prove it with action,'" said Jon Iwata, senior vice president, Marketing and Communications, IBM and chairman of the Arthur W. Page Society. "Howard's formidable intellect, as well as his ability to find common ground and build consensus -- never mere compromise -- set him apart, whether in work for his clients in business, for the children of Little League Baseball or for our nation. Howard will always be remembered and admired both for what he achieved, and for how he achieved it."
Paster was honored with the Hall of Fame Award on September 9 at the Arthur W. Page Society's 29th Annual Conference, “The CCO & The Social Enterprise," held in San Francisco. For more information, please visit www.awpagesociety.com.
Previous Hall of Fame Award winners include:
The Hall of Fame Award is the Arthur W. Page Society's highest recognition, honoring men and women whose esteemed careers have taken them to the summit of the public relations field. This award honors a leading senior level practitioner for lifetime achievement in a distinguished career of leadership in corporate communications. Recipients' accomplishments include having a significant positive influence on the enterprise on both public relations and business issues, major contributions to the profession, strong commitment to the Page Principles and careers filled with recognition by their peers.
The Arthur W. Page Society is a professional association for senior public relations and corporate communications executives who seek to enrich and strengthen their profession. Membership consists primarily of chief communications officers of Fortune 500 corporations, the CEOs of the world's largest public relations agencies and leading academics from the nation's top business and communications schools. The Page Society is dedicated to strengthening the management policy role of chief public relations officers. For more information please visit www.awpagesociety.com.
For more information contact:
Dan Strouhal
212-400-7959 x102 dstrouhal@awpagesociety.com