Richard T. Cole is a professor, and former chairperson, of the Department of Advertising, Public Relations and Retailing at Michigan State University. He rejoined the teaching staff in 2006 after 15 years of working in the health care profession.[1] He is the former Senior Vice President at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer of The Detroit Medical Center.
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Cole received his B.A. in Psychology & Speech from Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Holding a PhD. in Administration & Higher Education and a M.A. in Administration and Higher Education from Michigan State University. He is also a graduate of the Michigan Military Academy (Michigan Air National Guard) where he was commissioned as a United States Air Force reserve officer.[2]
Cole lives with his wife Deborah, an artist, in East Lansing, Michigan; they have four grown daughters.[3]
From 1983 through 1988, Cole was the press secretary and later chief of staff for Governor James Blanchard. During the 1970s he served as the Majority Executive Secretary of the Michigan State Senate. During this time he also was the director of Legislation and School Law for the Michigan Department of Education. In addition, he has also served as a finance co-chair for the campaign committee of U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow.[4]
From 1988 until 1990, he was an Associate Professor at Michigan State University in the College of Communication Arts and Sciences. Between 1991 and 1994, Cole served as the Vice President of Corporate Communications at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. In 1995, he took the position of Senior Vice President at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan until 2004. From 2004 until 2006, he served as the Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer of The Detroit Medical Center.[5] Cole was the chairman of Publicom Inc., an East Lansing, Michigan based company.[6] He is currently a member of the editorial board for the International Journal of Integrated Marketing Communications.[7]
In 1993, he served on the Jacob K. Javits Fellowship Board in the U.S. Department of Education. From 1998 until 2002, Cole served as the chair of the Board of Governors for the Cranbrook Institute of Science. Between 2005 and 2008, he was the Chair of the Metropolitan Detroit Division of the March of Dimes. He is also a founding board member of The Center for Michigan, a "bi-partisan economic development think and do tank" in Ann Arbor, Michigan.[8] The Center for Michigan. Web. 13 Jan. 2011. Cole was asked by the Governor Granholm to chair the departments search for an agency to handle up to $33 million in new state tourism and business-marketing contracts for the state of Michigan.[9] and the Michigan Political Leadership Program (East Lansing).[10]
Cole is a contributing author to the Handbook of Strategic Public Relations and Integrated Marketing, McGraw-Hill, 1997. He also co-authored a chapter in the Handbook of Research on Effective Electronic Gaming in Education, Information Science Reference, along with Elizabeth Quilliam in 2008. Cole wrote “The Kids Are All Write? The Need to Strengthen College-level Writing Instruction for Future PR Pros,” Tactics, October 17, 2009.[11] He is a monthly contributor to Dome Magazine, with is column titled Rick Cole at-large. The column often follows his weekly radio broadcast of the same title on the Walt Sorg Show on WILS Radio, in Lansing, Michigan.[12]
Western Michigan Distinguished Alumni Award, 1987.[13] In 1998, he was awarded the Executive of the Year Award from the Metropolitan Detroit Association of Health Plan Underwriters.