George Hammond, who had celebrated his 96th birthday on November 29th, died December 4th in his sleep at his home in Mystic.
The public relations industry has lost one of its great leaders with the death of George Hammond, APR, Fellow PRSA. Hammond, 96, who served s the 1969 PRSA President and was a member of PRSA’s inaugural College of Fellow class in 1989, passed away Thursday, December 4th in Mystic CT.
“We are grateful George Hammond chose the public relations profession during its incipience, because he had a dramatic impact on the development of modern public relations-beyond the initial platform of media relations,” said Reed Bolton Byrum, APR, 2003 PRSA president and CEO. “ Mr. Hammond was a great contributor to the profession, an outstanding practitioner and a model for all public relations professionals to follow.”
In addition to serving as president, Hammond was the chairman of the 1972 Nominating Committee, which was the first committee to nominate a woman, Betsy A. Plank, APR, Fellow PRSA, to serve as president of the Society. “George Hammond was a man of many distinguished ‘firsts’ in the profession he loved,” said Plank, 1973 PRSA president. “Among them-he was president during the year when the first 13 Chapters of PRSSA were established by PRSA. Throughout the 30 plus years which followed, his strong interest in PRSA never waned and he continued to be a wise, caring mentor to many Society leaders.”
Hammond received countless accolades throughout his career. He was the recipient of the prestigious Gold Anvil Award in 1973 – the Society’s highest individual award, presented to a public relations practitioner and PRSA member whose accomplishments have made a major contribution to the profession. Hammond was also the first recipient of the John W. Hill Award for leadership in the practice of public relations, presented by the PRSA NY Chapter in 1977.
Upon graduation from Columbia University, where he studied on a Pulitzer Scholarship, Hammond began his career as a sportswriter for the New York Sun. He was hired by public relations pioneer Carl Byoir in the 1930’s to take photos, which were then distributed to U.S. newspapers, of American tourists visiting Cuba, in an effort to increase American tourism in Cuba. Hammond later became chairman of Carl Byoir & Associates, where he created the first in-house photography and television departments in a public relations agency during the 1940’s. He was also the first to have his account team work in the offices of the client, not the agency. “George inspired a tremendous amount of trust in the CEOs of the corporations that he worked for,” said Chester A. Burger, APR, Fellow PRSA, friend and colleague of Hammond’s for more than 50 years. “The CEOs really listened to him closely; he had them year after year as clients.”
Hammond is survived by two daughters, eight grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren. His wife of 69 years, Gene, died in November of 2002.
A Funeral Service will be conducted on Monday, at 10am. at The Dinoto Funeral Home, 17 Pearl Street, Historic downtown Mystic. There are no visiting hours.
In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that donations be made in Hammond’s name to Mystic Seaport, The Museum of America & the Sea, P. O. Box 6000, 75 Greenmanville Avenue, Mystic, CT 06355-0990 – Attn: Bill Cogar.