Ray Kotcher, Senior Partner and Chairman, Ketchum
As Ray Kotcher has himself written, his career "sprang from a lifelong interest in the power and influence of mass media." When researching Boston University as possible graduate school to attend, he was sold on the exciting opportunities in the program and especially in the public relations program—and never looked back.
Mr. Kotcher started at Ketchum in 1983, was appointed president of the agency in 1992 and in June 2000 was named CEO. As CEO, he transformed and grew the firm. In 2009 Mr. Kotcher led one of the public relations industry's largest-ever mergers when Ketchum and Pleon combined operations to create the leading communications consultancy in Europe. Under his leadership, Ketchum's geographic client-service footprint also grew in developing markets through acquisitions in China, India and Russia and a joint venture in the Middle East. As CEO, Mr. Kotcher also led the development of a range of offerings in areas such as change management, sports and entertainment, and word-of-mouth marketing.
In 2012 he was named chairman of Ketchum. His #1 piece of advice to young PR professionals: "Be a media junkie and have an insatiable curiosity about life."