Dr. Helen Varner, dean of HPU’s College of Communication, has been awarded the 2004 Gregg W. Perry Public Relations Professional of the Year by the Hawai‘i chapter of the Public Relations Society of America. The award was presented July 21 at the chapter’s annual Koa Anvil awards.

The Gregg Perry Award recognizes an exemplary public relations practitioner who has made a major contribution to the profession and has applied public relations techniques in a professional manner to achieve meaningful objectives.

In April, Varner received the International Association of Business Communicators Hawai‘i Chapter Lifetime Achievement Award. She is only the second person to receive the significant honor in the professional chapter’s 34-year history. The award honors an individual in Hawai‘i who has served as a role model and has demonstrated leadership, initiative, and commitment to communication.

Varner joined HPU in 1991, initiating the school’s first communication degree program the following year. She is a former newspaper reporter, magazine editor, and photojournalist, and has worked in corporate agency public relations and advertising. Dr. Varner holds an undergraduate degree in public relations, a graduate degree in communication from Stephen F. Austin State University, and a doctorate from Texas A&M University.