Ad executive broke barriers for women

Adrienne A. Hall, who became a leader in the advertising industry at a time when few women held such positions and who later helped create prestigious organizations for high-achieving women, died Feb. 2 in a nursing home in Los Angeles from complications of Lou Gehrig’s disease. She was 81.

In 1970, Hall and Joan Levine formed Hall & Levine Advertising, which was often described as the first U.S. advertising agency headed by women. The agency’s clients included such companies as Max Factor and Neutrogena, said Stefanie Hall, Hall’s daughter.

Six years after the agency was formed, the Western States Advertising Agency Assn. changed the name of its “Man of the Year Award” to “Advertising Award of the Year” and gave it to Hall and her partner.

“Adrienne Hall was a pioneer for women in the field of advertising, and a center of energy, creativity and community for women and pro-equality men in any field,” said Hall’s longtime friend Gloria Steinem. “She came from a generation in which women had to invent themselves, yet she invented a role model for generations to come.”

After her agency was acquired by Foote, Cone & Belding, Hall served as vice chairman of the board at Eisaman, Johns & Laws Advertising Inc. from 1980 to 1994.

Throughout her career, Hall advocated the advancement and development of women in her industry and others. In 1982 she and other women founded the Committee of 200, a national members-only network for top-level businesswomen.

“A stable network of supportive relationships is absolutely essential for women in business,” Hall told the Chicago Tribune in 1985. “Developing and maintaining a network ought to rate as a very high priority for women.”

Because so many men are in management positions, they have built-in networks, Hall said. She searched for women “who’ve made it, who are at the top. We cross all political lines. Our point is working together.”

Hall also was active in the International Women’s Forum, a network of prestigious women’s organizations in the U.S. and several foreign countries. In 1985 the network was estimated to have 1,000 members.

In addition to her work with women’s groups, Hall served on the board of directors for the UCLA Foundation, had been a member of the Board of Regents at Loyola Marymount University since 1982, and sat on the advisory boards of several organizations and corporations.

Born Sept. 3, 1926, in Los Angeles, Hall graduated from Beverly Hills High School in 1944. She attended UCLA and in 1949 married Maurice Hall. In addition to her daughter Stefanie, Hall is survived by her husband; sons Adam Hall, Todd Hall and Joe Hibbitt; and another daughter, Victoria Zawor, all of Los Angeles.

Memorial donations may be made to the Adrienne Hall Women’s Mentoring Fund, Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Office of External Affairs, 79 JFK Street, Box 123, Cambridge, MA 02138. Checks should be made out to Harvard University.

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jocelyn.stewart@latimes.com