Ketchum Celebrates Chairman’s Hall of Fame Induction

Ray Kotcher has been inducted into the ICCO’s Hall of Fame for making progress in the internationalisation of the PR industry

Ketchum Senior Partner and Chairman, Ray Kotcher, has been inducted into the ICCO’s Hall of Fame for making exceptional progress in the internationalisation of the PR industry whilst demonstrating the cultural sensitivity and commercial acumen to create an agency which shares global reach with local relevance.

In addition, the firm has been named Regional Network of the Year (Americas) after another year of strong performance. Throughout his more than 30-year career at the company, he has guided the expansion of the firm’s global client-service footprint.

Leading one of the largest mergers in the public relations arena, when Ketchum combined operations with leading European communications consultancy, Pleon, in 2009, he then continued to increase the firm’s reach with major investments in the Middle East, Russia, China, India, Singapore, and Korea.

Kotcher is a past trustee of the Institute for Public Relations, former two-time chair of the PR Council, current member of The Seminar, and serves on the board of directors of Nile Rodgers’ We Are Family Foundation—a non-profit body dedicated to supporting teen-inspired social responsibility projects globally.

He is also on the executive committee and board of trustees of the Arthur W. Page Society and is a trustee of the PRSA Foundation. In 2012, he received the Public Relations Society of America’s Gold Anvil, the organisation’s highest individual honour for lifetime achievement.

He is also a past recipient of the Holmes Group’s Individual Achievement Sabre Award. In 2013, he was inducted into PR News’ PR People Hall of Fame, and in 2014, he was honoured with the Institute for Public Relations’ Alexander Hamilton Medal for Lifetime Contribution.

Kotcher has a Bachelor of Arts in English from the State University of New York at Geneseo and serves as a trustee of the Geneseo Foundation board. He has a Master of Science in public relations from Boston University’s College of Communication, delivered its 2006 commencement address, and has been honoured as a distinguished alumnus.

The International Communications Consultancy Organisation is a conglomerate of national public relations trade associations in 32 countries, which represents approximately 2,500 PR firms. Its Hall of Fame programme has been recognising outstanding PR figures since 2003.

“If I’ve learned one thing, it’s that our guiding principle must be practising to the highest professional standards. We’re a business that’s built on trust, and that’s the key to sustaining success for our industry, not only for today but in the years to come,” said Kotcher.