JOHN FLEMING HUSSEY

John Fleming Hussey Jr., 84, a veteran civil rights-era journalist and pioneer in the field of biotechnology and science public relations, died September 8 in Venice, Florida.



Raised in South Carolina, he began his communications career as a reporter for the Florence Morning News. As a student in the inaugural classes of the University of South Carolina Extension in Florence, he covered news and sports and was a night editor. Upon transferring to the USC School of Journalism in Columbia, Hussey was employed by The State newspaper, and covered the crime beat and other stories, one of which won him the prestigious 1961 William Randolph Hearst Foundation's First Place National Prize and scholarship for excellence in collegiate journalism.

In 1961, while a senior at USC, Hussey joined United Press International's Columbia bureau and covered the South Carolina legislature. Graduating in 1962 with a BA in Journalism, he continued his work with UPI and was promoted in 1964 to bureau manager in Mobile, Alabama where Hussey covered civil rights news developments throughout Alabama and southern Mississippi, including the historic march of 25,000 protestors for voting rights, led by Dr. Martin Luther King, from Selma to Montgomery. He reported on civil rights marchers being beaten and tear-gassed on the Edmund Pettus Bridge by police on March 7, which became known as "Bloody Sunday." During the culmination of that march several weeks later, which Hussey also covered for UPI, civil rights worker Viola Liuzzo was murdered, and many marchers were attacked by police on horseback.

Hussey was promoted to UPI regional executive for Alabama and Mississippi in 1966 and managed news coverage and business affairs for the news service in those states. On April 4, 1968, Dr. King, while standing on the balcony of his room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, was shot and killed by an assassin. Hussey rushed to Memphis to help cover the story.

Hussey left journalism by the end of that year, accepting a position as speechwriter and press secretary for U.S. Sen. Ernest F. "Fritz" Hollings, while also helping research Hollings' book, The Case Against Hunger. In 1972, Hollings appointed Hussey as staff director of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Oceans and Atmosphere, which handled all legislation regarding issues of ocean pollution, coastal environment, fisheries, law of the sea and other matters. In 1974, Hussey worked with other committees to have the Senate pass Resolution 222, establishing the National Ocean Policy Study (NOPS), a grouping of all ocean related issues under the jurisdiction of various committees in order to better serve the national interest. Hussey was appointed staff director of NOPS.

From 1974 through 1977, NOPS coordinated all ocean policy legislation, committee inquiries and policy studies not only by the Senate, but also including the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, the Congressional Budget Office, the Library of Congress Research Service and cooperated on legislative issues with various committees of the U.S. House of Representatives. This period saw the passage of numerous legislative initiatives to improve protection of the ocean environment, encourage ocean research, begin coastal zone management by the states, improve fisheries management, increase ocean education programs and strengthen the mandate of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

In 1977, Hussey returned to the private sector, joining the Washington office of the Monsanto Company, with responsibility for strengthening the company's legislative and executive branch relationships. In 1980, Hussey was named Director of Public Relations for Monsanto and transferred to St. Louis. There, he guided the company's global public relations programs.

It was during this time, in the early 1980s, that Monsanto was engaged in numerous public policy controversies about its products and manufacturing facilities, mostly related to accusations by activists that the company was polluting the environment and creating products that were harmful to public health. Each of these issues, ranging from accusations about PCBs in rivers and streams to charges against virtually every chemical, required a response and defense by the company. Monsanto during this time evolved its science in the direction of agricultural genetic modification, biotechnology and pharmaceutical research, and opened what was then the world's largest plant science laboratory.

In 1985, Hussey was elected Monsanto's corporate vice president of public affairs, with responsibility for public relations, community relations, government relations and corporate philanthropy.

As Monsanto invested further into plant biotechnology, the company recognized that the general public and the news media were ill-informed about this new science. In an effort to improve the public's understanding of the benefits of biotechnology research, Monsanto under Hussey's management developed a sophisticated national and international public relations program to explain the science. The program included film, video, magazine articles, news releases, by-lined feature articles, interviews, speeches by company scientists and executives, science museum exhibits, student educational materials, and other forms of communication. The comprehensive public relations program was carried out at the local, national and international levels. These programs were so successful that they were awarded two Silver Anvils, the highest recognition in the profession, by the Public Relations Society of America.

In 1987, Hussey was recruited back to Washington by the international public relations firm Hill & Knowlton and named an executive vice president with the opportunity to develop a global biotechnology and healthcare public relations practice group. At Hill & Knowlton, Hussey assembled a talented team of specialists. Within two years, the group had developed a client list of more than 30 blue chip industrial and biotechnology companies.

In 1990, Hussey was approached by the Nestle Company to become its new vice president of public affairs. Nestle was embroiled in a global public relations crisis arising from allegations that it was improperly encouraging third world mothers to feed their infants formula instead of breast milk. Hussey was charged with helping the company emerge from the stigma of this experience and develop a forward-looking, positive public relations image. During the next two years, Hussey developed a number of initiatives and outreach efforts to improve Nestle's standing in the food science community and among its former critics.

Hussey left Nestle at the end of 1991 and joined the Washington consulting firm of APCO Associates, which became one of the fastest growing international public affairs groups in the world. Hussey brought his experience in chemicals, biotechnology and food science to the consulting realm, and worked closely with APCO sister agencies in the U.S. and Europe to serve client needs.

By 1994, Hussey opened his own consulting group, the Communications Alliance, which pioneered the concept of the virtual agency-an agency without specific offices, connected by the emerging internet and email service, and available to serve clients wherever their needs existed. He retired from the active business world in 1996.

Hussey and his wife, Nancy, then spent the next three years aboard their 42-foot sailboat, Galatea, cruising in the islands of the Caribbean. Having studied sailing for more than 25 years, he was able to navigate successfully from the Chesapeake Bay down the east coast, to the Bahamas, and crossed to the Dominican Republic. Over the following years, they sailed the Virgin Islands, Antigua, Martinique, Guadalupe, Dominica, Grenada and Trinidad. They were also avid scuba divers and participated in diving excursions around the world.

In 1990, Hussey joined the board of trustees of Physicians for Peace (PFP), an international healthcare training and service foundation headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia. From 1990 until 2004, Hussey served as trustee and executive director of PFP, and for two years was vice president of the board. During this time, he helped redirect the focus of the organization to patient service in target countries and expanded the organization's standing in the international not-for-profit community. He also worked closely with volunteer physicians to set up the program he co-developed called "Walking Free," which provides care and artificial limbs to patients who have suffered catastrophic injuries due to landmines, earthquakes and other disasters. The program was launched in Turkey and has spread to other countries since.

Hussey was a member of the Sea Space Symposium, an international group of individuals dedicated to scientific and technological advances in sea and space for 20 years. The organization is composed of 50 leading ocean scientists, undersea explorers, corporate executives, entrepreneurs, astronauts and space pioneers.



The Husseys originally retired to Daniel Island, South Carolina, in 2004, and later relocated to Venice, Florida. He is survived by his wife Nancy Brandt Riegle Hussey, his son Michael Hussey of Nashville, Tennessee, his daughter Catherine Weeks of Longmont, Colorado, seven grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. He also leaves three stepchildren, Caethe Richardson, Laurie Riegle, and Donald Riegle, and ten step-grandchildren.

A celebration of life will be held at a date to be determined.