Communications Expert to Discuss Changing Face of Public Relations
Richard Baker
DELAWARE, OHIO – Richard Baker, director of communications for the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System, will present “From Carnival to the Kardashians: The Changing Face of Public Relations” April 11 at Ohio Wesleyan University.
Baker will speak at 3:10 p.m. in the Bayley Room on the second floor of Ohio Wesleyan’s Beeghly Library, 43 Rowland Ave., Delaware. The free event is sponsored by the university’s Woltemade Center for Economics, Business and Entrepreneurship. For those unable to attend, Baker’s presentation will be streamed live and archived online at StreamOWU.
Baker has worked in marketing communications and public relations for more than 35 years. Prior to joining the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System (PERS), he served as a director of communication and investor relations for two pioneering technology firms in central Ohio – CompuServe, the world’s first commercial online information service; and Metatec, a digital storage, supply chain management, and electronic publishing company.
At Ohio PERS, Baker and his staff handle all facets of public relations – from member relations to social media, and from crisis management to market research. For 26 years, he also has hosted the “Bluegrass Ramble,” an acoustic radio program on WOSU FM 89.7. He has served for 12 years on the WOSU Public Media board of directors and was selected in 2012 as “Communicator of the Year” by the Central Ohio Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America.
The Ohio PERS is the 11th largest public retirement system in the country with $80 billion in assets and more than 1 million members. Ohio PERS provides retirement, disability, and survivor benefits, and administrates health care programs.
Founded in 1985, Ohio Wesleyan’s Woltemade Center for Economics, Business and Entrepreneurship helps students to integrate business theory and practice, and provides resources to benefit the local and regional business community.
Founded in 1842, Ohio Wesleyan University is one of the nation’s premier small, private universities. Ohio Wesleyan offers more than 90 undergraduate majors, sequences, and courses of study, and 23 NCAA Division III varsity sports. OWU combines an internationally focused curriculum with off-campus learning and leadership opportunities that connect classroom theory with real-world practice. Located in Delaware, Ohio, OWU’s 1,850 students represent 41 states and 45 countries. The university is featured in the book “Colleges That Change Lives,” listed on the 2013 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with Distinction, and included on the “best colleges” lists of U.S. News & World Report and The Princeton Review. Learn more at www.owu.edu.