Criteria
The distributions from this fund shall be used to provide one or more scholarships to the most promising student(s) who is a declared communication major in The Edward R. Murrow College of Communication according to the following criteria:
- Students pursuing either the advertising or public relations sequence and enrolled in upper division communication classes.
- Students who are U.S. citizens or legal residents of the U.S.
- Preference will be given to residents of the State of Washington.
History
In the early 1980s, Ron Elgin and his business partner Dave Syferd set out to form a revolutionary communications agency. Their concept was to make available to clients both advertising and public relations counsel within one agency. Heretofore, clients in search of advertising expertise hired an ad agency and for public relations expertise hired a public relations agency. Bringing together both communications disciplines within one agency became known as integrated communications, but Ron and Dave were the first to launch an agency based on this model. Elgin Syferd became the largest independently owned communications agency in Washington State. Their business concept was hugely successful and spawned many imitators. DDB Worldwide took notice of the agency’s success and, after several attempts to buy Elgin Syferd, acquired the agency in the mid-1990s. Elgin Syferd became the Seattle office of DDB Worldwide and continued to offer both advertising and public relations counsel to a growing list of regional, national, and global clients. Along the way, the agency expanded its “total communications” services to include direct marketing, design, online, and myriad of other disciplines as technology changed the way companies marketed their products and services. The Seattle office of DDB became the largest communications agency in the state, period. Ron has been recognized as one of the region’s most revered philanthropists and a genuine legend in the advertising agency business.
The founders of Elgin Syferd came from humble beginnings. Through innovation and hard work, they became true “self-made men.” They never forgot what it takes to achieve success in the agency business and the fact that success starts with a solid education. They wanted to provide aspiring advertising and public relations practitioners with access to educational opportunities from which their careers could be launched. Due to the successful track record the Murrow college established in producing qualified advertising and public relations graduates, Ron and Dave believed endowing a scholarship with the Murrow College would assist the college in producing even more graduates with the necessary skills to help fuel the agency’s success as well as the overall success of the communications industry. This endowed scholarship provides the desired opportunities and is a reflection of Elgin Syferd’s founding principle of using both advertising and public relations to create integrated communication solutions.