EUPRERA has named Prof. Dr. Dejan Verčič, from University of Ljubljana in Slovenia, a “Distinguished Public Relations Scholar”. The lifetime award recognizes his outstanding contribution to research and education in public relations as a social science discipline on an international level. He was awarded on September 28, 2019, at the University of Zagreb, on the occasion of the EUPRERA annual congress, by the association’s president Professor Dr. Ralph Tench.

What Dejan brings to his academic roles is a sharp critique of the discipline from a deep understanding of the research and literature base. And he combines this with the insightful application of the theory to practice. This gives his discussions and observations added value as he provides not only disciplinary understanding but an appreciation of the implications of communication on both society and organisations.

 

About Dejan Verčič

Dr Dejan Verčič is Professor, Head of Department of Communication and Head of Centre for Marketing and Public Relations at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia and Partner and Knowledge Director in strategic communication group Stratkom, in Slovenia.

  • PhD from the London School of Economics and Political Science, UK,
  • He was a Fulbright scholar at the San Diego State University, USA.
  • Verčič has published 14 books and his most recent are Experiencing public relations (2018), Communication Excellence (2017), Culture and Public Relations (2012) and The Global Public Relations Handbook (2009).
  • In 2001 he was awarded the Alan Campbell-Johnson Medal for outstanding service to international public relations by the UK Chartered Institute of Public Relations (of which he is a Fellow),
  • In 2016 the Pathfinder Award, the highest academic honour bestowed by the Institute for Public Relations (IPR) in New York.
  • In 2015 he was elected an Honorary Member of the Croatian Public Relations Association,
  • In 2016 into the Arthur Page Society.
  • Dejan has served as the chairman of the Research Committee of the IABC Research Foundation
  • President of this very important Association
  • Since 1994, he has organized the annual International Public Relations Research Symposium – BledCom which celebrated its 25th birthday in 2018

Dejan is as many will know a regular speaker at universities, academic and professional meetings around the world. And as well as all of this Dejan has been a member of the ECM (European Communication Monitor) team since 2007.