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Chester
Burger spent most of his 48-year working career in the communications
field, establishing many "firsts." After he retired in
1988 from Chester Burger & Co., Inc., he became counsel to James
E. Arnold Consultants, Inc., the successor firm. In 1995, the U.S.
Government awarded him the 'Medal For Outstanding Service to the
United States."
Chester
Burger & Co., Inc. was the nation's first communications management
consulting firm. During a 24-year period, his clients included American
Bankers Association, Sears Roebuck, Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing,
Communications Satellite Corporation, American Cancer Society, Occidental
Petroleum Corporation, Texas Instruments, Inc. and Bell Canada.
Burger
joined the Columbia Broadcasting System in 1941 as a page boy, and
left in 1955 as National Manager of CBS Television News. During
World War II, he served with the U. S. Army Air Force. After V-J
Day, the Army assigned him to experiment with newly-developed television.
He produced the Army’s first broadcasts.
He
returned to CBS as a visualizer, developing methods for reporting
world news on TV news broadcasts then beginning. In April 1946,
he became the nation's first television news reporter. He was first
president of the Radio-Newsreel-Television Working Press Association
of New York.
After
entering the public relations field, he became president of Communications
Counselors, Inc. In 1955, he became a consultant to the management
of AT&T, a relationship that lasted 33 years until his retirement.
The Telephone Pioneers of America elected him an Honorary Member
for "outstanding service to the telephone industry.''
During
the years of the civil rights campaigns, Burger served as an officer
and member of the Board of Trustees of the National Urban League.
The United Negro College Fund awarded him its Distinguished Service
Citation. He was a founder of the Black Executive Exchange Program,
and received the Outstanding Mentor Award "for 21 years of
counsel and support to minorities in public relations." He
is a Life Member of the NAACP.
The
United States Information Agency presented Burger with its Award
for Outstanding Service to America's public diplomacy efforts. The
Public Relations Society of America gave its highest award, the
Gold Anvil, and its Counselors Academy designated him "The
Counselors' Counselor and its first Life Member. The United States
Marine Corps awarded him its first Drew Middleton Public Affairs
Award for Distinguished Service.
Burger
currently serves as an advisor to the Secretary of the Air Force
Office of Public Affairs. He was also Chairman of the Board of Directors
of Choice in Dying, Inc. He was a member of the White House Health
Project Task Force in 1992, and an Expert Advisor to the International
AIDS Vaccine Initiative. He was a member of the Board of Directors
of Union Theological Seminary, is an ordained Elder of Central Presbyterian
Church in New York and was President of its Board of Trustees.
He
is the author of six books on management subjects, including "The
Chief Executive." His lifetime work in photography was acquired
for the permanent collections of the New York Historical Society
and the New York Public Library. His lifetime papers are in the
Center for American History at the University of Texas in Austin.
March
2000
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