Jack Felton, a veteran corporate and military communicator who led PRSA and the Institute for PR, died May 2. He was 84.

Jack FeltonA Virginia native and information officer for the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War, Felton was a seasoned corporate communicator starting with U.S. Steel in 1957 who later moved on to direc PR and public affairs for Interstate Brands Corp. through the mid-1970s.

In 1975, he took a PR director slot at McCormick & Co., where he rose to VP of corporate communications in 16 years there.

Felton left corporate PR in 1993 and moved to academia in 1996, teaching PR at the Univ. of Florida and helping to establish the Institute for PR Research there before retiring in 2004 as president and CEO of the institution.

He was 1986-87 president of PRSA and received multiple honors from that group. The Institute annually awards the Jack Felton Golden Ruler award for PR measurement in his honor.

A prolific writer, Felton penned plays, edited books and composed songs. He won the Medal Freedoms Foundation award for his play, "Segments in Stained Glass."

Arrangements are pending.