Richard Edelman is the president and CEO of the world's largest independent public relations firm with wholly-owned offices in 53 cities and more than 3,600 employees worldwide. Edelman was most recently named "Top-Ranked PR Firm of the Decade" and one of the "2010 Best Places to Work in Marketing and Media" by Advertising Age, "2009 Agency of the Year" by PRWeek, "'09 Agency of the Year" by Adweek, and "Agency of the Decade" and "2009 Best Large Agency to Work For" by The Holmes Report. Edelman has been a leader in public relations since it was founded in 1952. Richard's blog, 6 A.M., which launched in September 2004, receives more than 2,000 visitors a day.
Richard Edelman was named president and CEO in September 1996. Prior to that, he served as president of Edelman's U.S. operations, regional manager of Europe and manager of the firm's New York office.
Richard has extensive experience in marketing and reputation management, with current assignments for the National Dairy Council, Hewlett-Packard, McGraw-Hill and Scotts Miracle Gro. He has counseled several countries on economic development programs, including Egypt, Israel and Mexico.
Richard has a special understanding of the non-governmental organization (NGO) movement. He has spoken on this topic at several conferences including The Institute of Social & Ethical AccountAbility, The Conference Board and the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting in Davos. Edelman's research on NGOs, business, government and media in the Edelman Trust Barometer has been cited by several publications including The Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal.
Richard won the Silver Anvil, the highest award in the public relations industry, in 1981. He was named "Best Manager of the Year" by Inside PR magazine in 1995. In 2006, he was awarded "Entrepreneur of the Year 2006 - NY Metropolitan Area" by Ernst & Young. Richard was named the "Most Powerful PR Executive" by PR Week in October 2008, for the second year in a row, and "Agency Executive of the Year" by AdAge in January 2008. In 2010, he was named one of "America's Favorite Bosses" (#8) by Forbes.
He serves on the Board of Directors of the Ad Council, the Atlantic Council, the Children's Aid Society and the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations. He is also a member of the World Economic Forum, the Arthur Page Society and PR Seminar.
Richard graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy in 1972. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard College (1976) and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School (1978). He lives in New York City with his wife, Roz, and three daughters.
