Alumna honored among 15 to Watch by PR News

The second school alum in two years has received a national PR News 15-to-Watch Award as an up-and-coming public relations practitioner. Jessica Lange, account executive for the Microsoft Games Studies account with Edelman Worldwide, graduated in 2006.  
    
Lange, 24, is one of 15 public relations professionals age 30 or younger to receive the national award given annually by the weekly public relations and marketing trade publication. Those named are making an impact in the field early in their careers.

Scott Sutton, a 2005 graduate working for Progress Energy Carolinas, was the youngest among the 15 honored in 2007.
    
Lange will receive the award at the PR News PR People Awards luncheon Nov. 16 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
    
Since joining Edelman in spring 2007, Lange has been active in the gaming arena and made the leap from intern to account executive in just over 12 months.  Her highest profile projects to date have been the Halo 3 launch and the urban outreach program for Xbox 360 in 2007, which culminated in saturation media coverage of the Limited Edition Grand Theft Auto console. The Halo 3 launch won PR Week and Sabre awards for best technology campaign.

While in the last year of her undergraduate program, Lange and her team developed and pitched an integrated marketing communication campaign to the client, Wachovia Banking Corp.  

“The campaign, ‘My Wachovia,’ was the most sophisticated I had seen in more than a decade of teaching campaigns classes,” said assistant professor Elizabeth Dougall.  “The Wachovia representatives were blown away, as were Jessica’s peers.”

In her spare time, Lange gives back to the community as a volunteer for The Trevor Project, the nation's only 24/7 suicide and crisis hotline for gay and questioning youth.

Dougall and senior associate dean Dulcie Straughan nominated Lange for the award.