Putnam receives "Inspiring Women" award

J. Adaire Putnam, SIU graduate and member of the College of Business External Advisory Board, received an "Inspiring Women" award from the SIU Foundation.

The Southern Illinois University Foundation's Inspiring Women Program will present J. Adaire Putnam with the 2007 Alumna Achievement Award during a gala on Oct. 13 at the SIU Carbondale Student Center.

The annual event honors women who have made significant, unique and lasting contributions to their communities or workplaces, and have served as role models of achievement. The program generates funds for scholarship endowments at SIUC.

Putnam, a 1981 speech communication graduate of SIUC, is founder and president of Perspectives Research, a qualitative research firm in Saugatuck, Mich. Prior to 2007, she was a partner at Ketchum Public Relations and director of its Midwest region, overseeing 80 professionals and operations that generated $18 million in annual revenue.

Putnam joined Ketchum, a leading global public relations firm, in 2001 when the firm acquired Corporate Technology Communications (CTC). Putnam had joined CTC after serving as founder and president of MLC Limited, a marketing-communications consulting firm based in Kalamazoo, Mich.

Putnam is actively involved in her community as well. At SIU, she sits on the College of Business External Advisory Board and until recently served as chair of the Marketing External Advisory Board.

“Adaire is an individual of exceptional skill and steady wisdom,” said J. Dennis Cradit, dean of SIU College of Business. “In her professional life, in her community service and in her commitment to SIU, Adaire Putnam sets the standard for inspiration.”

Putnam also served as president of the Sunrise Rotary Club of Coldwater, Mich., where she developed a successful $500,000 project to secure and renovate the Naomi Davis Shelter for battered women and children. Today, this facility offers a “safe haven” for young women in Branch County, Mich. She is also a founding board member of the Branch County Community Foundation, which today has assets of more than $5 million.

In addition to her SIU degree, Putnam holds a master of business administration from University of Notre Dame.

Putnam and her husband, Mark, live in Michigan with two labradoodles. They have two adult children and two grandsons.