Scott Widmeyer has built a career providing strategic counsel to presidents, CEOs, and union leaders, making a lasting impact across education, health care, politics, and other public policy arenas. He founded Widmeyer Communications in 1988 after a career in journalism and service in senior communications roles for President Jimmy Carter, Vice President Walter Mondale, U.S. Senator Jay Rockefeller, Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro, and president of the American Federation of Teachers. In 2010, Scott was named to the PR News Hall of Fame, and his firm later received the Council of Public Relations Firms’ Diversity Distinction award. Widmeyer Communications became part of Finn Partners in 2013.
Scott has long paired professional success with civic leadership. He chairs the National Council of George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs and has served on the boards of the Stubblefield Institute for Civil Political Communications, Catskill Mountain Foundation, LGBT Community Center of New York, Contemporary American Theater Festival, and Education Writers Association. A past David Rockefeller Fellow, he was selected by the Partnership for New York City for leadership in civic affairs.
Deeply committed to education, Scott co-developed a public broadcasting initiative that showcased great teaching in New York City and generated $30 million in philanthropic support. He also helped lead Public Schools for the 21st Century, an effort to elevate public education and its graduates.
Scott earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from West Virginia University, where he later established scholarships supporting journalism students and created an endowed public relations professorship. He was inducted by the school into their Academy of Distinguished Alumni and he was previously honored by West Virginia’s governor as a “Distinguished West Virginian.”
