Ray Kotcher,

CEO & Senior Partner, Ketchum

Mentee:

Erin, 14, South Africa

Raymond L. Kotcher is Chief Executive Officer and a Senior Partner of Ketchum, a unit of Omnicom Group, and one of the world’s largest public relations agencies with offices and affiliates on six continents.

Mr. Kotcher joined Ketchum in 1983 as Vice President, moved to President of the agency in 1992, and became CEO in June 2000. During his tenure as CEO, he has overseen a significant expansion of the agency’s breadth and depth of specialized communication services and the continuation of Ketchum’s award-winning record of excellence in the public relations industry.

In particular, he has helped lead the development of three critical agency offerings: Ketchum Personalized Media, a service to advise companies on the integration of new media, such as blogs and podcasts; Women 25to54, a program to connect businesses to one of today’s super-consumer segments; and Ketchum Influencer Relationship Management, an offering to link businesses with the key influencers who affect consumer perceptions. He has also helped the agency spawn four leading-edge communications businesses: Emanate, a boutique public relations agency; Ketchum Entertainment Marketing, an entertainment, lifestyle and pop-culture marketing group; Concentric Communications, an experiential and event-marketing agency; and Zócalo Group, a word-of-mouth marketing agency. In addition, Mr. Kotcher has helped the agency acquire three complementary businesses: The Washington Group, a lobbying and government-relations firm; Stromberg Consulting, a change-management firm; and Corporate Technology Communications, a technology-communications firm.

Under Mr. Kotcher's leadership, Ketchum was named PRWeek's 2002 Agency of the Year and, in 2001 Ketchum and its clients were recognized with an unprecedented 10 Public Relations Society of America Silver Anvil awards –– the U.S. industry’s highest honor. In the subsequent five years, the agency's work for clients has garnered an additional 29 Silver Anvils -- bringing the number of Anvils awarded to Ketchum to 102 through its 80-plus-year history, a record in the public relations industry.

Mr. Kotcher frequently speaks and writes on a range of public relations issues, such as globalization, technology advancement and the shifting media landscape. He is a member of the PR Seminar, and a trustee of the Arthur W. Page Society. In addition, Mr. Kotcher is the 2008 chair of the Council of Public Relations Firms. He received a Bachelor of Arts in English from the State University of New York at Geneseo and serves as a trustee of the Geneseo Foundation Board. Mr. Kotcher also holds a Master of Science in Public Relations from Boston University's College of Communication. He has been honored by that college as a distinguished alumnus, appointed to serve on its executive committee, and recently had the honor of being invited to give the commencement address to the College of Communication class of 2006. That address was published in the July 2006 edition of Vital Speeches of the Day. In January of 2008, Mr. Kotcher was honored by the entire University as a distinguished alumnus.