Coming up on Strategies & Tactics Live: Join us Thursday, Oct. 29, at 1 p.m. ET for a special conversation with 2026 Gold Anvil recipient Anthony W. D’Angelo, APR, Fellow PRSA, on career lessons, leadership and the future of communications. Join the conversation on LinkedIn here.
Accepting PRSA’s highest individual honor at ICON 2026 today in Orlando, Fla., Anthony W. D’Angelo, APR, Fellow PRSA, delivered a message about the often-unrecognized influence of PR professionals — and their responsibility to use that influence for good.
D’Angelo, professor of practice, chair of the Public Relations Department, and director of executive education at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, received the Gold Anvil Award during the conference’s opening General Session.
The award recognizes lifetime achievement and exceptional leadership in public relations.
In his remarks, D’Angelo, PRSA’s 2018 chair, reflected on the colleagues, mentors, students and family members who have shaped his career. He also challenged PRSA members to recognize the difference they can make, especially in a time of polarization, misinformation, and AI-driven deception.
“You can’t expect to be presented the Gold Anvil,” he said. “But I’d like to suggest to everyone here that you too can earn it.”
The influence we may never see
To explain what he meant, D’Angelo shared a parable from spiritual writer Anthony de Mello about a young hermit who is offered a wish.
Rather than seeking wealth, recognition or personal success, the hermit asks that great good be done for others through him, without his ever knowing about it.
D’Angelo explained that the story illustrates how people can profoundly impact others without fully realizing it.
“We really can’t know our true impact, but I believe it’s there, yours and mine,” he said.
He encouraged attendees to consider the influence they have on colleagues, students, clients and communities, even when that influence is not immediately visible or acknowledged.
A call for ethical leadership
D’Angelo connected that message to the challenges facing the communications profession.
“In a time marked by stark polarization, mis- and disinformation, and AI-fueled deception, now is when your dedication to the highest practice of public relations, delivered with uncompromising ethics and a heartfelt commitment to collaboration, can literally change the world,” he said.
He urged PRSA members not to underestimate their ability to make a difference — or the responsibility that comes with it.
“Please don’t underestimate your power or our shared responsibility,” he said. “Please believe in your own influence and know that you are guiding others.”
A career shaped by relationships
Throughout his remarks, D’Angelo returned to the importance of the relationships that sustain a career and the example professionals set for others.
He described PRSA as a source of world-class professional and personal role models, many of whom were in the audience.
“I could not have foreseen winning the Gold Anvil, but it’s actually happened,” he said. “And it can happen for you.”
He closed by expressing his hope that fellow PRSA members would recognize their own potential to influence others for the better.
“Who knows what enormous good you will do,” he said.
D’Angelo concluded by thanking the organization and its members for their support.
“You’ve been wonderfully good to me, and I’ll always strive to be worthy of this astonishing honor.”
John Elsasser is PRSA’s publications director.
Photo by Albert Chau
