University Park, Pa. — One of the most powerful women in the advertising industry and chairwoman of the world’s sixth-largest advertising agency will receive an honorary doctor of humane letters from Penn State. The University’s Board of Trustees today (Sept. 19) approved Shelly Lazarus as a recipient, who will receive the degree at the May 2009 Smeal College of Business commencement ceremony.
Lazarus' career with Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide, a global marketing and communications company, has spanned decades. In January 2009, she will step down as global chief executive officer of the company, but will retain the role of chairwoman.
During her career with Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide, Lazarus moved from an account executive through numerous promotions to become president of the company’s advertising headquarters in New York in 1991; then president of Ogilvy North America in 1994; chief executive officer (CEO) of Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide and finally CEO (1996) and chairwoman — a position she has held since 1997.
As chairwoman and CEO, with more than 30 years at Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide, she expanded the company's practice of brand building by encouraging a cross-disciplinary approach to public communications. She has worked with such clients as Unilever, Kraft, Kodak, Kimberly Clark and American Express. In 1994, she landed a $500 million global account with IBM and helped the company with its identity transition. Throughout her career, Lazarus has pushed the notion that everything from a company’s packaging to its brochures, stores, Web sites and order forms all send a message and those messages should work together and reinforce one another. Known as "360-Degree Branding," the concept — which has been adopted by corporations around the globe — promotes the idea that brand identity should be incorporated into every aspect of a product and company.
Lazarus' leadership of Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide, which has $8.8 billion in annual billings and 450-plus offices in 120 countries worldwide, led to the company being recognized by Advertising Age in 2002 as Agency of the Year. Ogilvy & Mather, which employs more than 15,000 people, also was hired to help promote the 2008 Olympics.
She also has received numerous individual awards. She has been named Advertising Woman of the Year, received a Distinguished Leadership Award from Columbia Business School, and has been listed in Fortune magazine’s annual rankings of the 50 Most Powerful Women in American Business since its inception in 1998.
She serves or has served on numerous boards of business, philanthropic and academic institutions, including General Electric, the American Museum of Natural History, Merck & Co., and the World Wildlife Fund. She also has served as chairman of the leading industry trade group, the American Association of Advertising Agencies — only one of two women to do so.
Lazarus earned a bachelor's degree from Smith College and an MBA from Columbia University.