Richard T. Cole, PhD, (Google full bio at "Richard T. Cole") is a counselor and advisor to senior executives. He specializes in developing and retaining relationships between organizations and the audiences or segments of the public upon which organizations depend. He is the co-author (with Derek Mehraban) of "Google This: The New Media Driver's License" (copyright 2014) and its earlier version "New Media Driver's License - Using Social Media for Business" (copyright 2012). He is also co-author (with Allie Siarto) of "The Social Current: Monitoring and Analyzing Conversations in Social Media." (copyright 2014).
Cole retired as a full professor and immediate past chairperson of the Department of Advertising and Public Relations, Michigan State University, East Lansing in January, 2014. He rejoined the faculty of MSU in 2006, after nearly two decades in health care administration.
From 2003 to 2006, Cole served as Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer of the Detroit Medical Center (DMC). There, he directed corporate staff functions including human resources, public and media relations, marketing and advertising, development and philanthropy and international services. Before joining the DMC, Cole had retired (in 2003) as Senior Vice President for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan where he had been a corporate officer, and supervised a number of divisions since 1991. During this time he served on the Brand Committee of the National BCBSA Board of Directors, served as Chief Operating Officer of a Blues-owned independent PPO and ran the company's "Creativity Center."
Cole has served in a variety of community and non-profit positions during his career. Most recently was appointed as a trustee of the Citizens Research Council of Michigan. In 2009, the U. S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) appointed him to its "Knowledge-to-Action Child Maltreatment Prevention Consortium", a 15-member national "think tank". He also served as chairperson of the Industry Relations Committee of the American Academy of Advertising. In 2005, while at Detroit Medical Center, the Metropolitan Detroit Division of the March of Dimes named Cole chairperson of its board of directors. He is a founding member of The Center for Michigan, a "bi-partisan, economic development think and do tank" in Ann Arbor. He has served as a finance Co-Chair for the campaign of US Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-Mi.), and he served on the board of Directors of the Greater Detroit Chamber of Commerce from 1999 to 2004. From 1993 to 1999, Cole was a member of the Jacob Javits Fellowship Board of the US Department of Education. He served as Chair of the Board of Governors of the Cranbrook Institute of Science from 1998-2002. In 1998, he was awarded "Executive of the Year" from the Metropolitan Detroit Association of Health Plan Underwriters.
From 1983 through 1988, Cole was Press Secretary and, later, Chief of Staff to Gov. James J. Blanchard. He also served as President of the Michigan Education Trust. Prior to his service to Michigan's governor, he co-owned and operated a Lansing-based public relations counseling firm, Publicom Inc. Dating back to 1970, Cole was a Michigan State Senate committee aide, Director of School Law and Legislation for the state Department of Education and was Majority Executive Secretary of the State Senate.
Besides his recent books on social media for business (see above), Cole has authored and co-authored numerous articles that have appeared in academic and professional publications including the Journal of Consumer Affairs, Journalism and Mass Communication Educator, PR Strategist, and Tactics Magazine. His recent book chapters include contributions to Clark Caywood's "Handbook of Strategic Public Relations and Integrated Marketing", McGraw-Hill, 1997 and 2012 editions, and "Handbook of Research on Effective Electronic Gaming in Education", Information Science Reference Books, 2008. He was recently commissioned to write a comprehensive chapter on Child and Spousal Abuse for the "Sage Encyclopedia of Health Communication., due out in 2014.
Cole received a Bachelor's Degree from Western Michigan University (from which he was named "Distinguished Alumni, 1987") and a Master's Degree and Ph.D. from Michigan State University. He is a former United States Air Force Reserve officer. He and his wife Deborah, a sculptor and member of the Greater Lansing Potter's Guild, live in Haslett, Michigan. They have four grown daughters and three grandchildren.
