Scott Widmeyer
Scott Widmeyer has a 30-year record in providing strategic counsel to scores of decision-makers, from presidents to governors to chief executive officers to union leaders. From working as a newspaper reporter to running major media operations for national campaigns, Widmeyer knows how to get results for his clients. His track record of successes in education, health care, politics, campaign finance, technology, trade and other public policy matters illustrate his impact as a “change agent” in things that matter most to America.
Clients regularly turn to Widmeyer for advice on economic development issues, marketing strategies, coalition building and crisis management. He founded Widmeyer Communications in 1988, building on a career in newspaper reporting and serving in major communications positions for five highly respected leaders — former President Jimmy Carter, former Vice President Walter Mondale, U.S. Senator Jay Rockefeller, the late Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro and the late American Federation of Teachers president Albert Shanker. In 2013, Widmeyer Communications became a Finn Partners company.
Scott is active in many civic and philanthropic causes. He currently serves on the Boards of the New York City Leadership Academy, the Education Writers Association, and the Contemporary American Theater Festival. He recently became National Council chair of the George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs. In 2007, he was named a David Rockefeller Fellow, a highly coveted one-year program of the New York City Partnership.
In recent years in New York, Scott was part of the concept team to develop “A Celebration of Teaching & Learning,” a 10-year effort by WNET/Channel Thirteen to showcase great teaching in New York-area schools as well as nationally. This initiative, at its peak, attracted up to 10,000 educators and Scott played a lead role in generating nearly $30 million in funder support from the corporate, philanthropic and non-profit sectors.
Widmeyer is a graduate of West Virginia University (WVU) where he has established two scholarship funds to benefit African-American and first-generation West Virginians seeking a degree in journalism. To date, more than 40 students have benefited from these scholarships, and in 2005, Widmeyer and his firm established the Widmeyer Communications Professorship in Public Relations, the first of its kind in the nation. Continuing his commitment to his alma mater, Widmeyer is a member of the National Campaign Committee for WVU’s Capital Campaign and chairs the Campaign Committee for the Journalism School. He also served as chair of the College of Media’s Visiting Committee until 2013. In 2003, he received West Virginia University’s most prestigious award in journalism – The P. I. Reed Achievement Award. Widmeyer was inducted into the WVU Academy of Distinguished Alumni in 2009. His firm received the 2012 Diversity Distinction in PR Awards from the Council of PR Firms.
In 2005, then West Virginia Governor Bob Wise bestowed upon Widmeyer the “Distinguished West Virginian Award,” the highest honor provided by the chief executive of the state, and in 2010 he was named to the PR News Hall of Fame.
Most recently, Scott was the co-creator and publisher of A Walk Around Nantucket, America’s first island resort-centric adult coloring book. The book (www.colormenantucket.com) has sold thousands of copies and is now in its second printing.
