University Park, Pa. -- William G. Margaritis, corporate vice president of global communications and investor relations of FedEx Corp. in Memphis Tenn., has been named to the advisory board of the Arthur W. Page Center for Integrity in Public Communication. The appointment is for two years.
The Arthur W. Page Center in the College of Communications at Penn State is dedicated to the study and advancement of ethics and responsibility in corporate communication and other forms of public communication.
Margaritis oversees all reputation management, investor relations, public relations, employee communications and community relations activities for FedEx Corp. and its subsidiaries. During his tenure, FedEx has been consistently ranked in the top 10 on the Fortune magazine "World's Most Admired Companies," "Best Places to Work" and Harris Interactive Wall Street Journal Most Reputable Companies list. The FedEx communications program has been recognized in various books and industry magazines as "best-of-class" for its leadership and reputation management.
Prior to joining FedEx, Margaritis was vice president of Bechtel International, based in London, and was responsible for managing public relations and marketing communications in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Southwest Asia. He also worked in Washington, D.C., and Athens, Greece, for separate divisions of the company.
In addition to his extensive international communications background, Margaritis has a broad experience in government affairs through positions with Occidental Petroleum, the U.S. Secretary of Commerce's Office of Intergovernmental Affairs and the Michigan state Senate.
He serves on various boards, including the Larry King Cardiac Foundation, the Reputation Institute, Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Greater Memphis, the We Are Family Foundation, and the Board of Counselors for the Council on Public Relations Agencies.
A native of Greece, Margaritis earned his bachelor's degree in business from Michigan State. He and his family reside in Memphis.
In September of 2009, he was named president of the Arthur W. Page Society, the leading organization for senior public relations and corporate communications leaders. By tradition, the president of the society serves a two-year term on the board of the Arthur W. Page Center.
The Page Center's advisory board is chaired by Lawrence G. Foster, a Distinguished Alumnus of Penn State and retired corporate vice president for public relations at Johnson & Johnson. Other members of the board are: Edward M. Block, retired senior vice president of AT&T; John A. Koten, retired senior vice president of corporate communications at Ameritech; Doug Anderson, dean of the College of Communications; and John S. Nichols, associate dean for graduate studies and research in the College of Communications and director of the Page Center.
The Page Center, founded at Penn State in 2004, has awarded approximately $336,000 in grants to researchers to examine integrity in communications. It was founded by Block, Foster and Koten, who each were past leaders of the Arthur W. Page Society.
The Center is named for the man who is considered the world's pioneer in corporate public relations. Arthur W. Page joined AT&T in 1924 and became known for setting high standards for ethical communication. His views have been distilled into the "Page Principles," specifically: tell the truth, prove it with action, listen to the customer, manage for the long term and a company's true character is expressed by its people.
Foster made a leadership gift to establish the Page Center. The Johnson family foundations an the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation also have given significant support. Robert Wood Johnson was the long-time chair of Johnson & Johnson. He was well known as a practitioner and promoter of corporate social responsibility. Other contributions have come from colleagues of Robert Wood Johnson and from the AT&T Foundation.
In honor of Arthur W. Page and Robert Wood Johnson, recipients of Page Center grants are called Page or Johnson Legacy Scholars.
The Page Center seeks to foster a modern understanding and application of the Page Principles and Johnson's business philosophy by supporting innovative research, educational or public service projects in a variety of academic disciplines and professional fields.