Robert T. Coonrod

Robert T. Coonrod is President and CEO of InterMedia (www.intermedia.org), a research-based consultancy with offices in London and in Washington DC. The organization began in 1996 as a specialized research and evaluation provider for international broadcasters interested in understanding their audiences worldwide. Today it operates in about 60 countries annually to provide its government and NGO counsel on effective engagement strategies in the increasingly complex global media and communication and media environment. He joined the company in 2010 from Meridian International Center in Washington DC, where he was Chief Operating Officer. Coonrod also serves on the Board of the Public Diplomacy Council, and he is a former member of the Defense Science Board Taskforce on Strategic Communication. Coonrod spent seven years as President and CEO of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), the Congressionally-chartered not-for-profit corporation that provides financial support for U.S. public media, including our nation’s 1,000 public radio and TV stations. Before joining public broadcasting, Coonrod was Deputy Director of the Voice of America. As a career Foreign Service Officer, he held several senior positions at the United States Information Agency in Washington and was posted in both in Italy and Yugoslavia. Coonrod is a graduate of Fordham University. He studied Italian, Slovene and Arabic and holds an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.