Journalism & Public Relations

2011 PR Hall of Fame Inductees

Bill Cox

Bill Cox

Bill Cox leads the communications efforts for the Windows Phone Division at Microsoft, including public relations, analyst relations, evangelism, product reviews and social media. Prior to his current position, he drove the global launch of Windows 7, which became the fastest-selling operating system in history with more than seven copies sold per second, totaling 450 million copies at last count. In addition to leading communications for some of Microsoft’s most strategic products, Cox has managed corporate issues, financial communications and media engagements with Bill Gates and CEO Steve Ballmer during his time at Microsoft. In his 15 years in the technology industry, Cox has held other senior roles including vice president for corporate communications at Informatica, and multiple communications and marketing positions at PeopleSoft. While at Chico State, he was involved in Tehama Group Communications and IABC.

Susan Larson

Susan Larson

Susan Larson is director of communications at NatureBridge where she is responsible for bringing the brand to life and positioning the organization as an environmental education leader. She spent the first half of her career working for early-stage enterprise software start-ups. Now she helps nonprofits innovate to build strong brands and better serve their missions. Larson is a member of the Board of Directors for Family Service Agency of San Francisco. She is a Human Factors Certified Usability Analyst and has a B.A. in Information and Communications Studies from Chico State, where she was a member of Tehama Group Communications. Larson is also a Habitat for Humanity volunteer and has recently completed builds in Cambodia and Mongolia.

Denise Styerwalt

Denise Styerwalt

As senior PR manager of Creative Solutions at Adobe Systems Inc., Denise Styerwalt is responsible for public relations for the Adobe Creative Suite products, services and mobile applications serving the design professional market. Additionally, she handles PR for the Adobe Digital Publishing Suite family of products for bringing engaging digital content such as magazines and newspapers to tablet devices. While at Adobe she has led PR efforts for numerous flagship product launches for the company including Adobe Creative Suite, Adobe InDesign and Adobe Acrobat. Before joining Adobe, Styerwalt was PR manager for iQ.com, an application service provider for online marketing solutions for customer capture, conversion, and retention. Earlier, she held PR positions at Walt & Company Communications and Lois Paul & Partners where she worked on accounts for clients including Sybase, Lotus and SAP.