The Watt Huntley Award for Lifetime Achievement is the highest honor given by the Raleigh Public Relations Society. It is presented to an individual who has made lasting and meaningful contributions to the field of public relations over the course of a career.
The award is given in memory of the late Watt Huntley, who served as public relations chief at Carolina Power & Light in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Huntley also served as president of the Raleigh Public Relations Society.
The Watt Huntley Award for Lifetime Achievement is presented at the annual Raleigh Public Relations Society Banquet.
The 2018 Watt Huntley Award for Lifetime Achievement was awarded to Rick French: Founder, Chairman and CEO of French/West/Vaughan.
Under Rick’s leadership, FWV has ranked as one of the nation’s 20 largest independently owned public relations agencies and one of the world’s 75 largest integrated marketing agencies. Rick has been named “Business Leader of the Year” twice by Business North Carolina, “Agency Professional of the Year” by Bulldog Reporter and has been recognized as one of the 300 Most Influential Communicators in the World by PR Week in 2015, 2016 and 2017.
Past Winners of the Watt Huntley Award for Lifetime Achievement
| 2017 | Susan Friday Lamb | North Carolina Museum of History |
| 2016 | Pamela Meek | SAS |
| 2015 | Ken Eudy | Capstrat |
| 2014 | Teresa Damiano | Raleigh-Durham International Airport |
| 2013 | Roger Friedensen | APR, Forge Communications |
| 2012 | Queenie Byars | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |
| 2011 | Cindy Gardiner | APR |
| 2010 | Robert Larson | North Carolina State University |
| 2009 | Ray Hornak | APR, The Catevo Group |
| 2008 | Dr. Mitch Javidi | President and CEO, The Catevo Group |
| 2007 | Dr. Melissa Johnson | North Carolina State University |
| 2006 | Becky Christian | WakeMed |
| 2005 | Ron Smith | APR, S&A Cherokee |
| 2004 | Michael Herman | APR, The Catevo Group |
| 2003 | Steve Meehan | Capstrat founder |
| 2002 | Sherry O’Neal | N.C. State College of Design |
| 2001 | Jeannie Morelock | Meredith College |