PSB and Burson Roles for Baer

Former Clinton advisor Don Baer has been appointed to senior roles at both MR and strategic communications consultancy Penn, Schoen and Berland (PSB) and PR and public affairs firm Burson-Marsteller.

As Chairman of PSB and Vice Chairman of Burson-Marsteller, part of WPP, Baer will help drive new business initiatives and provide strategic counsel to clients, reporting in to Mark Penn, President of PSB and CEO of Burson-Marsteller. He will be based in Washington where the two companies share offices.

For the last eight years, Baer has been a senior executive at Discovery Communications, $3 billion owner of the Discovery Channel, and managed its overall strategy and development.

He worked as a senior adviser to President Bill Clinton between 1994 and 1997 as White House Director of Speechwriting and Research and then as White House Director of Strategic Planning and Communications, also playing a key role in the Clinton/Gore 1996 re-election campaign. He began his career at NYC-based law firm Patterson, Belknap, Webb & Tyler, and then worked in late 80s and early 90s as a reporter, writer and assitant managing editor at U.S. News & World Report in Washington.

He has a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law; an M.A. in International Relations from the London School of Economics; and a B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Penn says Baer is 'one of the top talents in the world in strategic communications' and brings 'enormous strategic insights and the ability to drive significant new business.'

Web sites are at www.psbresearch.com and www.burson-marsteller.com.

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.