John Saunders, president and CEO of FleishmanHillard international communications, has been named an honorary doctor of philosophy by Dublin City University (DCU). Saunders becomes the first ever Irish public relations professional to receive such an honour from the university. Starting out his career as a sport’s presenter in RTÉ, the Dublin native went on to establish Fleishman Hillard Saunders in Dublin in 1990.
The Dublin agency is one of FleishmanHillard’s top international offices. In 2015, Saunders was appointed global CEO based in the company’s head office in St Louis, Missouri, which oversees a network of nearly 80 offices worldwide. This year, FleishmanHillard Ireland was named large agency of the year at the Excellence in PR Awards, jointly organised by the Public Relations Institute (PRII) and the Pubic Relations Consultants Association (PRCA).
The Irishtown-based agency, run by Rhona Blake, was judged to have “impressive client and staff retention and strong business management”. Clients include SuperValu, Brown Thomas Arnotts, Sky Ireland, Danone, Philips, P&G, Allianz Partners, Lloyds Pharmacy and Woodie’s.
FH is part of the Omnicom global network of agencies.
