Chester Burger

Burger_ChesterSCHRANZ LECTURER 1983

Currently serving as an advisor to the Secretary of the Air Force Office of Public Affairs, Chester Burger has had a long career in the television and public relations industry. Burger founded and served as president of the nation’s first communications management consulting firm, Chester Burger & Co. Clients included Sears Roebuck, American Cancer Society, Communications Satellite Corporation, Occidental Petroleum Corporation and Texas Instruments. He retired from Chester Burger & Co in 1988.  Prior to establishing Chester Burger & Co, Burger served as President of Communications Counselors, Inc beginning in 1955. It was in this position that Burger took the client AT&T, which he counseled until his retirement 33 years later. During the Civil Rights Movement, Burger was an officer and member of the Board of Trustees of the National Urban League. Before his successful public relations career, Burger pursued the study of television. He began his career as a page boy for the Columbia Broadcasting System in 1941. In 1946, he became the nation’s first television news reporter. Burger worked for CBS as a visualizer, following his work with the military.  Burger was awarded Public Relations Society of America’s highest honor, the Gold Anvil, in 1987. The Counselor’s Academy named him “The Counselors’ Counselor” and made him their first Life Member. He has also been awarded the Drew Middleton Public Affairs Award for Distinguished Service by the Marine Corps.

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