“Media, Marketing Research, Public Relations & Communication Technology” is the title of an alumni panel discussion scheduled for 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 15, in Higley Hall Auditorium (100 Ridge Road) on the Denison University campus. The conversation among panelists Susan Whiting ’78 and Matthew Harrington ’84, and moderator Ping Yang, will include topics such as how information is gathered and utilized in marketing research, and the impact of technology on how information is shared within society. The event is free and open to the public.

Whiting is vice chair and executive vice president of The Neilson Company, with marketing and product leadership responsibilities for all Nielsen business units. She joined Nielsen in 1978 and was named president and chief operating officer of Nielsen Media Research in 2001. Within nine months, she assumed the additional role as chief executive officer. She became executive vice president of VNU Media Measurement and Information in 2005 and was appointed chairman of Nielsen Media Research in 2007. She was promoted to vice chair of The Nielsen Company in 2008. Whiting, a member of the Board of Directors for Wilmington Trust Corporation, the Ad Council, and the YMCA of Greater New York, is past president of both the Connecticut Women’s Forum and the New York Radio and TV Research Council. She has received the Humanitarian Award from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, the Women’s Venture Fund Highest Leaf Award and the President’s Award from the Imagen Foundation. Named by Crain’s New York Business as one of the 100 Most Influential Women in New York, Whiting graduated cum laude from Denison with a B.A. in economics, and serves as a trustee of the college.

Harrington is president and chief executive officer of U.S. operations for Edelman, a leading global public relations firm. A specialist in corporate positioning and reputation management, he is responsible for Edelman’s entire domestic operation, which represents two-thirds of the firm’s worldwide revenue. He has been with Edelman for more than two decades and has provided counsel to a range of clients, including General Electric, Swiss Re, Charles Schwab & Company, Getty Images, Samsung and Starbucks. His areas of expertise include crisis communication, merger and acquisition activity, initial public offerings, and the establishment of investor relations programs for companies in a variety of industries. Harrington previously served as president of Edelman’s Eastern Region and chair of the firm’s corporate practice. He is a member of the National Investor Relations Institute and the Public Relations Society of America, and is a board member of the New York Harbor Conservancy and the Classic Stage Company. He holds a B.A. in English literature from Denison, and has recently joined the college’s Board of Trustees, and has served as president of Denison’s Alumni Society.

Assistant Professor of Communication Ping Yang will moderate the discussion. Much of Yang’s scholarship focuses on the intersection of culture, communication and technology, and she is working on projects that examine ethnic minority identity, heritage language education and intercultural online communication.

Calendar Listing:

CALENDAR LISTING, Denison University, Granville — “Media, Marketing Research, Public Relations, & Communication Technology” alumni panel discussion on at 4:30 p.m. on Thurs., Oct. 15, in Higley Hall Auditorium (100 Ridge Road). The event is free and open to the public.

About Denison:

Denison University, founded in 1831, is an independent, residential liberal arts institution located in Granville, Ohio. A highly selective college enrolling 2,100 full-time undergraduate students from all 50 states and dozens of foreign countries, Denison is a place where innovative faculty and motivated students collaborate in rigorous scholarship, civic engagement and the cultivation of independent thinking.

For press inquiries:

Name

Barbara Stambaugh

Position Title

Director, Media Relations

Primary Email

stambaughb@denison.edu

Business Phone

(740) 587-8575