William "Bill" Ruder (October 17, 1921 – February 22, 2011) was an American public relations executive and co-founder of Ruder Finn with David Finn.
They started the firm in 1948 when both were 27. They originally called their company Art In Industry, Inc. Their first clients as Ruder & Finn was Perry Como. His success that year led to other celebrity clients, including Dinah Shore, Frankie Laine, The Mills Brothers, Jack Lemmon and Rosalind Russell.
In 1960, Ruder was appointed by John F. Kennedy as Assistant Secretary of Commerce and took a two-year leave of absence from the firm. He later co-authored A Businessman's Guide to Washington with Ray Nathan. His work landed him on the master list of Nixon political opponents.
He has been quoted explaining the Kennedy administration's use of the Fairness Doctrine to limit conservative broadcasters, saying:
| “ | Our massive strategy was to use the Fairness Doctrine to challenge and harass right-wing broadcasters and hope the challenges would be so costly to them that they would be inhibited and decide it was too expensive to continue.[1] | ” |
In 1980, he formed a personal consulting firm while continuing to be a stockholder in Ruder Finn and a member of its board.