Philip Shirley, APR

For 37 years, Philip Shirley, APR of Jackson, Miss., has represented the public relations profession with distinction — as classroom educator, strategic communication counselor, active community leader, business owner, and accredited (APR) practitioner.

He is chairman and chief executive officer of GodwinGroup, the South’s oldest advertising and public relations firm. He joined GodwinGroup in 1989 as vice president, public relations, and in 1990 became a partner in the now 77-year-old agency. In 1994, Philip was named president and chief operating officer. In 2007, he became CEO and in 2010 chairman of the board and majority shareholder.

Before joining GodwinGroup, Philip worked for Alabama Humanities Foundation, Samford University and Luckie & Forney, Alabama’s largest advertising agency. He has served as an adjunct professor at both Samford University and Mississippi College.

He has been an active member of the Southern Public Relations Federation for many years, first as a member of the Public Relations Council of Alabama and then the Public Relations Association of Mississippi. He served as president of SPRF in 1994.

His writing includes writing or co-authoring five published books, including a study of higher education, a social history of baseball, and a book of fiction. His newest book, a novel, was released by Mindbridge Press in 2014.

A native of Alabama, Philip studied religion at Samford University before transferring to the University of Alabama, where he earned an undergraduate degree in 1975 and the master’s degree in 1977 in American Studies, after being named a Dean’s Scholar for the Graduate School.