Bob Peirce – 2012
A veteran reporter with the Globe-Democrat and the Louisville Courier Journal, Bob Peirce was hired by Fleishman-Hillard in 1984. His efforts with the firm showed he was a great communications strategist, but his work for numerous clients really shined, especially in what he did for Monsanto.
Bob was awarded three Silver Anvils, the public relations industry’s highest honor, including one in 1985 for his work with Monsanto and what was then a budding concept called bio-engineering.
While Peirce might have shunned the notion that he actually coined “bio-technology,” his communications work in the mid-1980s certainly popularized the phrase “bio-tech.”
He helped people understand — and accept — what bio-technology was and the promise it held, especially in medicine and food production. In October 2007, Peirce became a director of public affairs at Monsanto.