The accomplishments of Mary Wells Lawrence should shatter any doubt about the ability of woman to succeed in the male-dominated business of advertising.

She is the genius behind such brainstorms as the Braniff Airlines campaign, which introduced the company’s now famous multicolored planes and propelled Braniff into the ranks of the Fortune 500. She was also responsible for the brilliant ads and made Alka Seltzer a household necessity.

Such success is not surprising, considering the drive and ambition that Mary Lawrence has always brought to her work. Following studies at Carnegie Tech, she began her career in New York in 1950. There, at the age of twenty-three, she was fashion advertising manager for Macy’s department store. A year later, she joined McCann-Erickson, Inc. as copy group head. In 1957 she moved to Doyle, Dane, Bernback, Inc. and rose to the position of associate copy chief and vice president.

In 1966 she established an advertising and marketing agency with Dick Rich and Stewart Greene as partners. The company’s total billings grew to $30 million within the first six months of operation. Wells, Rich, Greene, Inc., now has offices in nine cities in the United States and in London. Annual billings exceed $400 million.

Financial success has not dampened Mary Lawrence’s appetite for work. “I love this business. It’s brutal and ruthless and challenging and constantly stimulating. I am never, ever bored,” she once told a reporter.

Mary Lawrence has received honorary degrees from Babson College and Carnegie Mellon University. In 1974, she was selected to represent business at the Conference on Inflation, a national economic summit.