Don Bates is a well-known senior public relations and public affairs executive.  Before entering management communications, he was a daily news reporter.  In addition to public relations and public affairs, his expertise includes new technology, sales and marketing, and corporate and consultancy management.  He has led and taken part in many teams involved in crisis communications, reputation management, community relations, issues advocacy, mergers and acquisitions, campaign management, and new business development.

Currently, Don is a clinical associate professor at New York University where he teaches basic and advanced PR writing.  He has taught public relations management in The George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management, Washington, D.C., where he served as the first director of its Master’s degree program in Strategic Public Relations.  He has also taught graduate courses at the New School for Social Research, the New York Institute of Technology, and Columbia University.  He is a senior advisor with Stevens Gould Pincus, management consultants to the public relations and public affairs industry, and consults with diverse organizations, including a unit of the International Monetary Fund engaged in promoting better global corporate governance.

Don’s career encompasses management positions in Fortune 500 companies (ATT/Western Electric, McDonnell Douglas, and IBM) and influential national associations (Planned Parenthood International, and the Public Relations Society of America).  For 12 years, he owned and operated The Bates Company public relations and public affairs firm, which he sold in 1995.  He traveled widely in Europe and Asia in the conduct of business.

Don has written monographs on consultancy management, technology and marketing.  He is author of professional articles, book chapters and how-to guides related to organizational communication.  His editorials appear on the Institute’s website along with a mini-history of professional public relations.  In 2009 and 2010, he coauthored influential studies with Cision (formerly Bacon’s Media) on the use of social media by the press. In 2011, he completed research on the use of social media by public relations and public affairs consultants.