Howard Geltzer, longtime Medill board of advisers and Hall of Achievement member, died Jan. 7, 2025. He was 88.

Geltzer and his wife Sheila started their public relations agency, Geltzer & Co. public relations, in New York City in 1974. At the end of the 1970s, Sony gave the agency responsibility to launch the Walkman. Sony had low expectations for the product and wanted to keep down costs. No advertising; no promotion; only the Geltzer & Co. publicity effort. The contract was three months long. The Walkman exceeded all sales expectations. The three-month assignment lasted 12 years. Sony moved all of its product publicity business to Geltzer & Co. Other clients over the years included Black and Decker Housewares, Dow Chemical, Morton Salt, Samsung, and Toshiba.

The Geltzers also ran the 2000 New York presidential campaign of Dick Gephardt, a fellow Northwestern alumnus.

After 26 years in business, the Geltzers sold their agency to Publicis, the multinational advertising and marketing agency.