Cornerstone co-CEOs Rob Stone and Jon Cohen announced that Ed James will return to the New York-based company, at which he will resume his prior role as president and co-founder of the agency’s public relations division.

Based in Nashville and Gibson Guitar's former global vice president of public relations, James will oversee existing client relations and new business in Cornerstone’s New York, Los Angeles and London offices In addition, James (pictured) will focus on building the Cornerstone brand across major markets in the Midwest and South, as well as increasing Cornerstone’s reach throughout Europe.

Cornerstone clients include Converse, Diageo, Microsoft and Pepsi.

“The global experience [James] gained at Gibson will also be a huge asset to Cornerstone, one that will help us broaden our reach to clients around the world and across all platforms,” Cohen said in release.

Prior to his tenure at Gibson, James co-founded the Cornerstone Public Relations agency in 2006. He signed numerous accounts for the firm and handled campaign strategy and execution for clients including HBO, Bushmills Irish Whiskey, Pepsi, Nike, Reader’s Digest, Converse, Guitar Center and Levi’s.

James has won Bulldog Reporter’s Silver Award for PR Agency Professional of the Year, has been profiled in PR Week, was nominated as executive of the year for the past four years by PR News and was named one of the industry’s “40 Most Influential” media professionals by Folio Magazine.