My interview with Donald Ferguson: Educator, administrator and industry leader

If you’ve ever sat down with family members to record their life stories, you know how rewarding, informative and fun it can be. You’ve known these people for a long time, yet you realize afterward that you didn’t really know the arc of their lives, or how they made critical decisions or why they chose to go left at a fork in the road called life instead of right. 

Applying this same spirit, I’ve recently been capturing the stories of people in my professional network who are important to me, have inspired me and have made a lasting mark on the communications profession. I had an unexpectedly fun time doing this work and hope it leaves you with inspiration for your own careers, whether you’re starting out, deciding on a midlife job change, or wrapping up. 

I count Donald Ferguson among my longest-term mentors and someone whose fingerprints can be found on nearly every job I’ve gotten over 25 years. We met when he was a consultant to the corporate communications team under Elliot Schreiber at Bayer in Pittsburgh. Even as a young guy with literally months of experience under my belt, I remember realizing how calm and thoughtful Donald’s counsel was and how I aspired to follow in his footsteps. 

The interview follows below. I hope you enjoy it and tell me what you think. And please note that these comments are my own and not those of my employer or firm.

An early love affair with the printed word sets the stage

As a boy, Donald’s interest in journalism awoke thanks to the weather in Omaha and a fortuitous visit from Santa, who brought Donald a small printing press when he was a young boy. Donald picked up his parents’ Omaha World Herald every morning and copied that day’s weather forecast, setting it in rubber type, printing a dozen copies and delivering them to neighbors. Every Saturday, he made the rounds to collect a nickel from his ‘customers,’ who were all too amused to not play along. This was his first paying job and it ignited an interest in the printed word that he fed with a growing collection of printing presses of increasing size and capability that would eventually take over a basement corner. In the years to come, Donald printed thousands of bookmarks for school libraries, the first school newsletter for parents in his fourth-grade class and, later, tickets for school dances and programs for school events. He came to know the art of typography and type setting so well that, years later when he showed up at college, he ended up helping teach a required first-year course on typography when the professor realized there was nothing he could teach Donald that he didn’t already know. 

Becoming an educator and later an administrator

Donald decided to attend the University of Nebraska at Lincoln to earn a degree in education with a professional certificate in journalism, which seemed like a natural path for him and one that he never second guessed. It set him up perfectly for the long career that would follow. 

He did well at the University of Nebraska and then went on to Northwestern University on a full scholarship, where he graduated with a master’s degree in Journalism. But rather than go into the world of journalism or public relations, he decided he wanted to teach high school journalism. “This was the one and only job I ever applied for in my entire career,” Donald said. He returned to Lincoln, Neb., and successfully got his first teaching job at Lincoln Public Schools, all for $4,000 a year plus a $500 boost due to his master’s degree. A number of students from those first years of teaching ended up having extensive and varied journalism careers. According to Donald, three became senior faculty members at the University of Nebraska College of Journalism and Mass Communications and one the president of the National Press Club in Washington, DC. 

After two years of teaching, a contact from the University of Nebraska called Donald to see if he’d be interested in going to Ohio State, to which his contact had just been recruited to rebuild that school’s journalism program. Donald said yes. He doubled his salary, but also doubled his workload. “It was a lot,” Donald said. “We worked 12-hour days, running the school, developing new curriculum, organizing a new building and a million other things,” he added. In fact, it ended up being too much and Donald jumped at a chance to return to his school district in Lincoln, where a new superintendent decided he wanted a school PR person. Donald’s background of journalism and teaching, combined with his knowledge of the district, made him the hands-down choice for the role, which was a new one for the district and one that only about 200 school districts in the United States had at the time. “I left the classroom on a Friday and became an administrator on a Monday,” Donald said.

Even though the role had PR as a responsibility, it was really more community relations. Donald helped the principals communicate more effectively with school parents, businesses and the community at large, and ultimately build the relationships that would be needed to position the school district favorably when it came time to vote for education-related tax increases. A few years into the job, the district’s head of government affairs left and Donald assumed the additional responsibility of legislative affairs and lobbying. 

Donald’s work in the district continued to be recognized, so much so that he was asked by the head of the National School Public Relations Association to develop a training program for school principals and superintendents, all to be funded by U.S. Department of Education. The training started in 10 cities and expanded quickly in quantity and scope, eventually encompassing a training program for school board members. Donald’s time in teaching and administration would soon lead to an unlikely connection, and one that would change the course of his entire life.

Entering the corporate world by taking a risk

A woman who did community research and surveys knew Donald and when a large mining company came to her in the early 1970s to conduct a study on the impact of new environmental laws being passed as the Environmental Protection Agency got up and running, she recommended they talk to him. “I got a call out of the blue from [the mining company] AMAX Environmental Services,” Donald recalled. “They wanted to talk. I told them I was passing through Denver to Vale, Colorado, to conduct a workshop and would be happy to stop by their offices for a meeting….but I was very clear that I wasn’t bringing a coat and tie,” he added.

Donald showed up for the meeting with three executives from AMAX, all of whom were in three-piece suits. They were skeptical and asked Donald to talk about his science background. He said “well, H2O is water. If you want a scientist, hire a scientist. But if you want a PR person to help the public understand those of you who don’t know how to talk to them today, then maybe you need a PR guy.” The company called a few weeks later to offer him the job. Donald was reluctant at first but AMAX was unrelenting and Donald eventually decided to try it and take the risk. He accepted – without knowing the salary or other details. “When I accepted,” Donald said, “I told them I’m going to trust you to pay me what it’s worth and, if you don’t, I won’t end up being there long.” When he received the formal offer letter prior to starting, he saw he would be earning double the salary of his current job. So, he moved to Denver and began doing what could best be described as a blend of public relations, internal regulatory education and community relations for AMAX Environmental Services, thus starting his corporate career and cementing what would become a long-standing principle to listen for opportunities and take them if they expanded his personal and professional horizons. 

AMAX had hired Donald amid the birth of the Environmental Protection Acts and related sub-acts focused on air, water and other natural resources. The acts required companies to obtain permits from the communities where they wanted to operate, all at the discretion of those communities. AMAX realized they had to make sure they understood the ins and outs of working within the new legal frameworks and community requirements, or otherwise they wouldn’t be able to keep growing their business. Donald’s role was to educate AMAX management about what was happening at the Environmental Protection Agency and how the new permitting process worked, and to gain community acceptance for new permits the company wanted. 

Among the connections he made while at AMAX was with a young Dave Samson, today retired as general manager of public affairs at Chevron and now in a senior role at Edelman but at the time fresh out of school. Dave responded to a help wanted ad in the newspaper that Donald had placed, but Donald felt he would have trouble dealing with the seasoned scientists at AMAX. Instead, Donald introduced him to Mike Gaughan at MGA Communications in Denver. Mike hired Dave, and since AMAX was an MGA Communications client, Dave got his wish to work for Donald when he began servicing that account.

Donald himself decided to leave AMAX and also join the MGA Communications team. In addition to continuing to support AMAX (but now in an agency role), he began working with Denver-based Manville Corporation as a client. The company was navigating a highly public and complex bankruptcy related to ongoing asbestos litigation, and the work was a PR person’s dream. Donald was perfect for it and when the head of communications left, he recommended Donald to replace him. Donald interviewed with the company’s president and board chairman and got the job at the end of 1985. 

Not only did he take the job, but he took Dave Samson with him. Donald and Dave worked together for about three years before Dave was approached by John Onoda, at the time the head of communications for Levi Strauss, about a job. “I told him to go! I said you’ve learned all you can here – go try it and keep learning.” For anyone who knows Donald, this is a typical response, always putting people’s growth and advancement first. 

Taking his experience to others: The formation of Geduldig & Ferguson 

As well as he was doing at Manville, Donald was continually looking for new challenges and, when a recruiter called with a job in Chicago, Donald decided to listen. The company was Chemical Waste Management, a division of Waste Management Inc., and it was about to spin off into a public company. It was a chance to build and lead a brand-new communications function for the new entity, and Donald decided to interview. “They offered me the job before I left the room,” he recalled. Donald began the process of moving from Denver to downtown Chicago and got to work.

He was just three months into the new job when the company reversed course and decided to stop the spin-off plans, instead choosing to consolidate into one corporate entity. Donald’s job and the opportunity he had left Manville for had gone away overnight. The company offered him different options to stay or leave, and he took one that set him up to start his own firm. 

“Chemical Waste Management offered to pay for a headhunter to help me get a new job,” Donald said. “But I decided to go back to them with a different proposal: They put that money in a bank account and let me use it to find – or create – my next job.” The company agreed and, with that money, Donald was in a position to try something new. But what and who would he do it with? Enter a man named Al Geduldig.

Key to Donald’s success at Manville and his brief stay at Chemical Waste Management was having a kitchen cabinet of experts in reputation management, investor relations and senior-level media placement. Among those people was Al, who was an individual consultant a bit older than Donald and, as Donald freely admits, acted as his “therapist” to help work through all the complex issues on his plate. With the money from his former employer and his experience in complex reputational issues gained up to this point, Donald began talking to Al about formalizing their business relationship. Al was all for it and, in 1992, the firm Geduldig & Ferguson was formed. 

The new firm got off to a roaring start when it quickly won a huge project with Prudential that required Donald’s presence in New York to lead it. He decided to relocate and that company remained a client for decades. “You always have to be open for opportunities,” Donald reflected. “They come by sometimes and you don’t really think them through. Flexibility is important, personally as well as in your career.” Geduldig & Ferguson did well and became very respected in the crisis and reputation management disciplines. It was never big – growing to about 10 consultants and support staff at its peak – but it was always focused. 

The network of experiences and relationships that Donald had built would serve him well at Geduldig & Ferguson, including when the then-CEO of Manville, Tom Stephens, called Donald to help him prepare for a new role leading MacMillan Bloedel, Canada’s largest forest products company at the time. “Tom called a number of advisors and executives together at his house one weekend and we went around the room doing introductions,” Donald said. “He got to me last and said to the group, ‘Everything we’re going to do won’t be successful unless we know how to communicate it to the financial community, employees and the general public. That’s why Donald’s here.’” Donald spent about half his time in Canada for the next few years as Tom restructured the company and began leading it. 

It was a memorable time in his career, both professionally and personally. “Tom never questioned many of my decisions and generally took all of my recommendations at both Manville and MacMillan Bloedel,” Donald said.

The work with Al and a stable of loyal clients continued until years later, when Al and Donald merged their firm into the west coast operations of Fleishman Hillard in 2004, giving Donald the opportunity to live in yet another new city (San Francisco) and Al the chance to spend less time working and more time enjoying a home he’d recently built in Panama. Donald remained of counsel to Fleishman for a number of years, relocating to Palm Springs in 2008 and then semi-retiring in 2012.

Giving back

Donald has always been generous with time, referrals and ideas, especially to younger members of the profession or those just starting out. One of the wonderful things about knowing Donald is that so many roads lead back to him and he’s behind the start of the careers of so many people who are today shaping the communications industry. 

More formally, Donald has made a lasting mark on his field by memorializing so many of its lessons in a textbook called Journalism Today. The idea first came to him in 1968 when he was teaching high school journalism and hanging out with a former fellow student, Jim Patten, who had become a teacher and local reporter. “We were watching a football game and talking about how bad the quality of journalism resources was for teachers,” Donald said. “And by the time we had finished a six pack or two, we had outlined the book and decided who was better at writing about which topics. In a month or two, we had it done. We didn’t know what we were going to do with it, we just wrote it.” he said. After the first book came out, it did well as it was the only journalism textbook approved for use in California and Texas, the two states that set the standard for the rest of the country. 

The book went through revisions every five years and included teacher’s versions and resources. The book had eight editions and sold over 500,000 copies. When one considers that a book is used for multiple years, the number of students reached by Donald and Jim’s book is well in the millions. But the royalties? “$400 for last year,” Donald said with a laugh. “But at its peak, royalties were substantial and allowed me to set up two $1,000 journalism scholarships for students attending my high school in North Platte, Nebraska. It is still being given some 20 years later,” Donald added with great satisfaction.