Jerry Swerling, who was named "Public Relations Person of the Year 2000" by the Los Angeles Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America, has more than 34 years of experience as a senior-level communications educator and professional.
At USC, where he serves as Professor of Professional Practice and Director of Public Relations Studies, he is responsible for the management of the undergraduate and graduate programs in public relations, including curriculum design, faculty organization, and student mentoring. He also teaches at the graduate and undergraduate levels.
In addition, he serves as Director of the USC Annenberg Strategic Public Relations Center, the mission of which is to "advance the study, practice and value of public relations by means of practical, applied research." The Center's best-known project is the annual PR Generally Accepted Practices (GAP) Study, which is widely recognized as one of the most important sources of PR management-related information for the profession.
At the professional level, Jerry serves as Principal of Swerling & Associates (www.swerlingassociates.com), a PR management consultancy he formed in 1998 to help corporate clients solve a wide variety of organizational and strategic communications challenges. His consulting clients have included (among others) General Motors, Cisco Systems, Home Depot, Honda, Michelin, State Farm Insurance, The American Cancer Society (National Office), Hyundai, Dairy Management, Inc., Computer Sciences Corp, Toyota, and Quintiles Transnational Corp..
Jerry previously headed the Southern California operations of Porter/Novelli, a leading, global public relations agency. Under his eight-year leadership, P/N's organization grew from a small, little known presence in Los Angeles to one of the strongest and most respected firms in California, with a staff of 60 serving in offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Irvine. While he was with Porter/Novelli the agency consistently won industry accolades, including being named 1994/95 "Public Relations Agency of the Year" by Inside PR magazine.
Among the clients won and served by Porter/Novelli under Jerry's stewardship were McDonald's, Oral-B Labs, Nissan Motors North America, Iomega, Hewlett Packard, Baskin-Robbins USA, Kia Motors America, Allergan, Inc., the California Department of Health Services Breast Cancer Early Detection Program, Southern California Gas Company, Household Credit Services, the California Kiwifruit Commission, Motel 6, Kubota Tractor Company, ICS Communications and Sun-Maid Growers.
Before moving to Los Angeles from Boston to join Porter/Novelli, Jerry served as Senior Vice President/Director of the Public Relations Division of Ingalls, Quinn & Johnson. At IQ&J, which at that time was one of the largest integrated marketing firms in New England, he built a highly regarded PR agency virtually from scratch. Clients served under his leadership included NEC Information Systems (US introduction), Steinway Pianos, T.J. Maxx Stores (national introduction and roll-out), the Massachusetts Department of Tourism, BayBanks, Bank of Boston, Friendly Family Restaurants and the Wm. Cabot Children's Apparel Company.
He began his career with one of the nation's largest automobile associations, where he served as Director of Public Relations.
Jerry holds a BA in English from the University of Massachusetts and an MS in Communication from Boston University. He is past president of the Counselors Section of PRSA-LA and is currently a member of the Arthur W. Page Society, PRSA, and the Counselors Section of PRSA.
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