Frank Karel (1935-2009) was an advocate and pioneer in health and public interest communications.
He worked with the National Cancer Institute as the associate director for cancer communication as well as the associate director of public relations for Johns Hopkins University and Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.
He served two terms as the vice president of communications for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation from 1974 to 1987; and again in 1993-2001.
After he retired in 2001 he worked on memoirs and was an advisor to Burness Communications, a nonprofit public relations firm.
Karel died at 74 years old on September 19, 2009, after a nine-year battle with prostate cancer in Washington, D.C.[1] His wife, Betsy Karel, and chair to the Trellis Fund, provided a $2.0 million grant to UF creating the nation’s first endowed chair in public interest communications.