Exxon Mobil VP Kenneth Cohen to speak February 18 as Hearst Visiting Professional
(February 13, 2003) The vice president of public affairs for one of the world’s largest companies, Exxon Mobil Corp., will speak on ethics as part of a series marking the 150th anniversary of the University of Florida.
Kenneth P. Cohen will speak Tuesday, February 18, as part of the Hearst Visiting Professional program in the College of Journalism and Communications. The public isinvited to his lecture on “Social Responsibility in the 21st Century.” It is scheduled at 12:50 p.m. in Gannett Auditorium of Weimer Hall under the sponsorship of the Department of Public Relations.
Cohen is an attorney with degrees from Baylor Law School and Yale Law School. He joined the legal department of Exxon in 1977. He became chief attorney for Refining, Environment and Health in 1985 and assumed his current public relations position in 1999 when Exxon and Mobil Oil merged.
He was assistant general counsel for Exxon in 1989 when one of the company’s tankers, the Exxon Valdez, was involved in a major oil spill off the coast of Alaska.
The Hearst Visiting Professional Program was initiated in the College of Journalism and Communications in 1992, with a $200,000 gift from the William Randolph Hearst Foundation and $100,000 as a match from the State of Florida. The endowment is used to bring prominent speakers to the campus each semester.
Recent surveys by Bill Baxter of Marquette University show the UF Department of Public Relations among the (unranked) “23 Premier Undergraduate Programs” in the country (1999) and ranked third best of “16 Premier Graduate Programs” (2001). The Department has 800 undergraduate majors, the largest in the country, plus 35 M.A. and seven Ph.D. students.
Dr. James L. Terhune is chair of the Department, which has a full-time faculty of 11.
Contact James L. Terhune for more information at 392-1686.
The Campaign for the University of Florida