Coyne Public Relations | Coyne College

FACULTY

		Tom Coyne, Professor, New Business/Results First^© As founder and chief executive officer of Coyne Public Relations, Tom Coyne has created a strategic communications firm offering a full range of marketing services to worldwide interests. Tom’s vision and dedication have helped a wide variety of organizations and individuals successfully deliver their specific messages to strategic audiences through creative communications, ranging from launching new products nationwide to managing the most delicate crisis situations. Tom is always looking for that creative breakthrough – something that will set our client apart from everything else. Not just creative for creative sake, but creative that helps drive sales and ultimately helps our clients build their brands. Coyne PR has a proprietary process to help foster this creativity. We call it ResultsFirst^©. The ResultsFirst^© process is Coyne PR’s strategic approach to program development and is the main focus of the class he teaches at Coyne College.

		Rich Lukis, Professor, PR and Profitability Throughout his more than two decades of consumer public relations experience, Rich has worked with many of the world’s most respected companies. After more than ten years with the agency, Rich Lukis currently serves as President of Coyne Public Relations where he provides overall corporate direction and strategic counsel. In addition, he provides leadership to the finance, operations and HR departments and counsels on client management and new business development. Prior to being named President of our agency, Rich had served as Executive Vice President of Coyne PR, and directed the agency’s consumer practice having managed the firm’s automotive and lifestyle divisions. Rich is well-versed in daily agency operations and together with Mark Martin, created Coyne College’s PR & Profitability class.

		Mark T. Martin, Professor, PR and Profitability Mark T. Martin joined Coyne PR as the Chief Financial & Administrative Officer to strengthen its operational infrastructure. Mark brings over 20 years of experience in the PR and advertising industries. Before joining Coyne PR, Mark spent 14 years at Manhattan-based Makovsky & Company. Previous to that, Mark worked within the Dentsu, Young & Rubicam network and began his career at Touche Ross & Co. A CPA, Mark lives in Edison, NJ with his wife Donna, two children and three step children. He graduated from Miami University (Ohio) where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Accounting with a minor in Marketing.

		John Gogarty, Professor, Crisis Management John will be teaching this semester’s most exciting course – “Crisis Management”. Students will get the chance to hear about some Coyne and industry best practices, as well as public relations challenges that have humbled some of the world’s biggest brands. John and his team have helped manage crisis communications for many Coyne clients, including: Hard Rock International, Graco, Schwans, Rock Fashion Week and Benihana. Prior to joining Coyne, John helped on crisis communications for Frito-Lay and McDonald’s.

		Wayne Catan, Professor, Media Relations Wayne Catan spent the last 11 years of his career as a solo P.R. practitioner where he handled several blue-chip accounts including The Charles Schulz Estate (Peanuts, Snoopy, Charlie Brown), Raggedy Ann, NBCOlympics.com, Pets.com and Scholastic Books. Prior to going at it on his own, Catan spent 12 years in New York City where he spearheaded media efforts for Reebok, Nikon Cameras, Yukon Jack Whiskey and Maxwell House Coffee. He was PRWeek’s Solo Practitioner of the Year in 2001 and was a finalist at the 2004 PR News Awards in the category of Media Professional of the Year. His work at Coyne Public Relations has helped the company garner many awards on the media relations front including a Silver Anvil Award.

		Brian Murphy, Professor, Media Relations Brian Murphy brings more than 15 years of media relations experience to his Coyne Public Relations clients. At Coyne Public Relations, Brian has worked on The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, Hasbro Games, Crayola and Toys”R”Us and Babies”R”Us. Prior to Coyne Public Relations, he was at the helm of several award-winning campaigns including initiatives for Jeep (licensed products), Sony Pictures Consumer Products and Fisher-Price. Brian’s efforts have led to a Big Apple award, a PRWeek Award (runner-up finish) and a Pyramid award here at Coyne Public Relations.

		Stacy Becker, Professor, Social Media Stacy plays an integral part in developing social media strategies for the agency and is one of the founding members of Coyne’s internal social media think tank - sPRocket. She has helped develop the agency’s social media code of conduct, a blogger relations process, as well as social media issues management hand book. Most recently, Stacy helped create a blog network for General Mills that currently consists of 2,500 bloggers and growing. She has executed several successful campaigns through the network for brands including Yoplait Kids, Chex Mix Bars, Cheerios, Pillsbury and Fiber One. Over the last 8 years, Stacy has also worked on traditional Public Relations campaigns and events for high profile clients including Cadbury Schweppes, Campbell Soup Company, General Mills, Kraft Foods and the Schwan Food Company, Walt Disney World, Graco Children’s Products and Hard Rock Cafe International.

		Michael Salzillo, Professor, Social Media As an Assistant Vice President, Michael Salzillo’s work at Coyne PR has included many consumer product launches as well as comprehensive B2B and B2C campaigns featuring both traditional media as well as social media tactics for national brands such as Goodyear, Quaker State, Pennzoil and Rain-X. He has also managed on high-profile media events for Shell Lubricants, and assists in the leveraging of Quaker State’s and Pennzoil’s NASCAR sponsorships to generate media-worthy news. Aside from the accounts he oversees on a day-to-day basis, Michael assists in spearheading the agency’s social media think-tank “sPRocket.” His new media experience has seen him educate and work with clients such as Shell, Goodyear, Medco, BMW and Disney while working with their leadership teams to formulate strategies and policies to usher them into an emerging communication forum. As the social media and marketing worlds are facing a crossroads with the recent legislation handed down by the FTC, Michael is well prepared to lead the agency’s internal and external education efforts on laws and ethics due to his intense training and preparation to achieve Accreditation in Public Relations (APR) from the Public Relations Society of America.

		Deborah Sierchio, Professor, Event Planning/Management As a Vice President in the Lifestyle Group of Coyne PR, including Entertainment and Fashion/Beauty, and during her 15 years as a PR professional in both agencies and in-house, Deborah Sierchio has gained valuable experience in event planning and execution. She has developed and brought to life impactful and eye-catching events ranging from building a barn in Bryant Park, to stopping traffic in Times Square to smash more than 100 guitars, to launching a new compact to a very discerning audience of high-profile fashion and beauty editors. From stunts to red carpet events to corporate social responsibility press conferences to consumers events with hundreds of screaming teens, Deborah has worked on programs that have resulted in major media and been celebrated by the industry with honors including PR News’ CSR Award, Pyramid’s “Best in Show” and the Sabre “Fashion/Beauty” Award.

		Jill A. Kleiner, APR, Assistant Professor, Event Planning/Management As an Account Supervisor in the Beauty/Grooming Division of the Coyne PR Lifestyle Group, Jill A. Kleiner serves as team leader for two industry leaders: Mary Kay and Palmer’s. During her 5+ years at Coyne PR, she has managed a wide variety of beauty and entertainment industry events, including national campaign launches, “world’s largest” stunts, press conferences and large-scale product launches. Her experience also includes celebrity-driven events featuring personalities such as Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne, Jewel, Martina McBride and Laila Ali. In addition to gracing the pages of the top beauty and entertainment magazines, event coverage has yielded hits with top media outlets such as AP, GAC and CMT, USA Today and Yahoo!, to name a few. In 2009 alone, Jill’s events have garnered prestigious awards, including a Sabre Award (Fashion & Beauty) and two Pyramid Awards (Special Programs and Best of Show).

		Meredith DeSanti, Assistant Professor, Event Planning/Management As an Account Supervisor at Coyne PR, Meredith DeSanti has extensive experience working with world-renowned brands, specifically in music, entertainment, philanthropy and lifestyle industries. In her six-year tenure at Coyne PR, Meredith has managed hundreds of high-profile events, from global concert tours and red carpets, to local events and charity benefits, and worked with top artists and celebrities, such as The Who, Aerosmith, Melissa Etheridge, Motley Crue, Shakira, Ozzy Osbourne, Eric Clapton, John Mayer, U2’s The Edge and many more. Meredith’s efforts have led to coverage in top media outlets, such as USA Today, MTV News and Rolling Stone, and also helped to garner honors for Coyne PR from PR News’ CSR and Platinum PR Awards, Mercury Awards, Galaxy Awards and Bulldog Awards.