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 pageboy, 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.
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