Name: John P. Anderton PhD, MPA

Chapter: Georgia Chapter

Current position: Communications Officer, Office of Public Health Scientific Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

How long in current position: I have been in this position formally for a month, but at CDC for 25 years.

First PR job: I worked at a planetarium in Wichita, Kansas during college where I promoted science programming in astronomy, life, and space sciences. I really enjoyed that job and still think about it from time to time. Look up the North American solar eclipse (August 21, 2017) if you are interested in that kind of thing for next year. It’s going to be great!

Where you attended college: I received a Bachelor of Arts from the Wichita State University, a Masters in Public and Urban Administration from Georgia State University, and a PhD in Health Promotion and Behavior from the University of Georgia.

If you weren’t doing PR, you’d be……traveling through Europe looking at the cathedrals and museums and eating in little street cafes with my family.

Proudest professional accomplishment: I was part of the CDC team that moved US childhood immunization rates from 67 percent complete to over 90 percent complete during the 1990s. It was a huge achievement in public health, and I worked on the team that developed and deployed the marketing materials around this initiative.

What is your passion? I am passionate about using theory to guide communications interventions, rather than creativity and intuition alone. It actually takes all three to encourage persons to change behaviors, but without theory, there is no way to adequately predict, describe, or evaluate success.

Why you are a PRSA member? I enjoy the networking of the conferences I have attended in the past, with persons of similar backgrounds and professional interests.

Each week, the PRSA Southeast District highlights one of its 2,700 members. To join PRSA, visit prsa.org.