The Henri Bollinger Memorial Scholarship Fund has been established by the Pansky Family in honor of the legendary publicist and beloved and respected UCLA Extension instructor.
The Henri Bollinger Memorial Scholarship provides funds to individuals with a passion for public relations to study a certificate in Strategic Branding and Public Relations at UCLA Extension. The scholarship is intended to help mid-career professionals get an edge in a competitive industry. Bollinger’s influential role in establishing high standards for publicity and public relations professionals within the entertainment industry is well-known.
“We are honored to have spent 18 years with Henri, Sandy and his family,” said Scott Pansky, Co-Founder of Allison+Partners and past President of the Entertainment Publicist Professional Society, founded by Bollinger. “Henri’s warmth, guidance and support helped when we moved to Los Angeles. Understanding how important it was to him to help others enter the field of public relations, it is our family’s sincere privilege to have created a scholarship in his memory for generations to come.”
Henri mentored many successful entertainment industry professionals and invited them to participate in his UCLA Extension courses. Past course guest speakers have included Pansky, Steve Elzer, Elzer & Associates; Tim Menke, ICG Publicist Awards Chair, Hanna Bolte, Bolte Media; Rick Markovitz, Director, PRSA-LA; Howard Bragman, Vice Chairman, Reputation.com; Richard Verrier, LA Times Business reporter; and many others.
Bollinger’s notable credits include positions as five-term President of the Publicists Guild of America; founder and past President of the Entertainment Publicists Professional Society; member of the Communications Committee of the Hollywood Entertainment Museum; member of the Public Relations Committee of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences and editorial board member of its EMMY magazine.
He also guided the curriculum committee for the Entertainment Publicity Program at UCLA Extension, for over 20 years. Bollinger’s contributions were recognized in 1974, when he won the Publicists’ Les Mason Award, the Guild’s highest honor for a publicist. He was later honored by the Guild with the Bob Yeager Award, which recognizes a member whose civic, charitable, volunteer efforts better society.
An anecdote Bollinger shared with Variety in a 2016 interview mentioned his early use of social media for PR when a client wanted information to go out at 2 am. In the interview Bollinger stated, “I could not stay up that late so I wound up recruiting a student from my PR class at UCLA Extension,” he recalled. “So it got sent out at 2 am, and at 9 am I got a call from the client, who was pleasantly surprised at getting all the responses that early in the day. And the studios then discovered the value of social media pretty quickly — so much so that they often launched it without announcing that they were doing it.”
The application for the Henri Bollinger Memorial Scholarship at UCLA Extension will be available for Fall 2019. The curriculum covers branding and marketing, advertising, corporate relations, media and community relations, crisis communications, digital strategies and events. Visit UCLA Extension Scholarships for more details.
To make a donation in honor of Henri, visit giving.ucla.edu/Bollinger or contact Olivia Lam at contact info below.
UCLA Extension offers professional certificates and continuing education courses in the arts, business, education, engineering, arts, sciences, writers’ program and much more. Courses are held in the evening and weekends in Westwood, Downtown LA, and Woodland Hills, plus online. Subjects range from interior design, marketing, data science, digital technology, tech management to entertainment studies, public policy, public health, humanities, and more.
