Roger Bolton to Present the James C. Bowling Executive-in-Residence Lecture

Roger Bolton, president of the Arthur W. Page Society, will present the James C. Bowling Executive-in-Residence Lecture beginning 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 5, in the UK Athletics Auditorium of the William T. Young Library.

Before joining the premier global professional association for senior corporate communication executives, Bolton previously served as senior vice president of communications at Aetna, where he also chaired Aetna’s Council for Organizational Effectiveness, with responsibility to lead culture change in a strategic business transformation.

Previously, Bolton led IBM’s global media relations and directed communications for the IBM server and software groups.

Prior to his business career, Bolton was assistant secretary of the Treasury for public affairs under President George H.W. Bush, assistant U.S. trade representative for public affairs under President Ronald Reagan and special assistant to President Reagan in the White House with responsibility for the president’s relations with business and labor.

Bolton’s awards and honors include the Alexander Hamilton Medal for Lifetime Achievement from the Institute for Public Relations, U.S. Treasury Distinguished Service Award, John W. Hill Award for Lifetime Achievement from PRSA-NY, Lifetime Achievement Award from Trust Across the World and 100 Most Influential in Business Ethics from Ethisphere Institute

Bolton currently serves on the boards of Elon University School of Communications (chair), Yale Center for Faith and Culture, Page Center for Integrity in Public Communication at Penn State University and ​Darden School of Business Leadership Communication Council.

Preceding the lecture, the Excellence in Public Relations Award will be presented to Barbara McDaniel, former chief spokesperson for Toyota Motor Manufacturing North America.

McDaniel’s public relations career has included positions with government agencies, political candidates, a metropolitan chamber of commerce and a global corporation. She has performed a broad spectrum of PR responsibilities, such as media relations, government affairs, crisis communication and speech writing.

In 2017, McDaniel concluded her 27-year career with Toyota Motor Manufacturing North America. For more than half of that time, she was responsible for media relations and served as the chief spokesperson for manufacturing. One of her primary responsibilities was supporting Toyota’s North American plants throughout the United States by establishing and maintaining solid relationships among the company, community leaders and government officials. McDaniel also was in charge of government relations in several states where Toyota manufactures vehicles.

While most of her Toyota career was in the manufacturing area, she also did a year-and-a-half assignment as media relations manager with the company’s New York office, which was the holding company for all North American sales, manufacturing and research and development activities. 

Prior to joining Toyota, McDaniel was communications manager for the Louisville Area Chamber of Commerce. She also worked for the Commonwealth of Kentucky, where her 10-year career included serving as head of public affairs for the Kentucky Department of Education and as deputy press secretary to Gov. Martha Layne Collins.

McDaniel's board positions currently include two organizations, the National Center for Families Learning, a nonprofit dedicated to eradicating poverty through multi-generational education, and the Backside Learning Center, a nonprofit that supports equine workers and their families at Churchill Downs. Past board involvement has included the National Association of Manufacturers Public Affairs Steering Committee, the Kentucky Y Youth Association, the Kentucky Press Association and the Mississippi Automotive Manufacturing Association. 

A native of Louisville, Kentucky, she holds a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Kentucky and a master's degree in public affairs from Kentucky State University. She resides in LaGrange, Kentucky.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the lecture series, which has brought a nationally-known public relations practitioner to UK annually since 2000. The lecture, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored by the Department of Integrated Strategic Communication and the Journalism and Media Alumni Association. The recipient of the Bowling Scholarship will be announced at the lecture.

The series honors James C. Bowling, the late retired assistant chairman of Philip Morris Companies Inc. He attended UK and later served the university as a member of the UK Development Council. In addition to serving on several national boards, Bowling also worked with the UK College of Agriculture, UK Gatton College of Business and Economics and the UK Sanders-Brown Center on Aging.