Russ Robinson has more than 25 years experience in the communications and public relations fields. His wide range of skills includes worldwide product launches, events marketing, crisis communications, media relations, and brand and image building. He has provided guidance and counsel for Fortune 500 senior executives at IBM, Sprint, and CompuServe.

Prior to joining Alliant, Robinson was senior director of communications and public relations for Sprint, where he had a leadership role in all of Sprint's major PR initiatives during his tenure with the company. Robinson directed the largest product launch in the company's history, simultaneously managing more than 200 professionals to produce a multi-media worldwide event from Broadway. He was director of internal communications for Sprint's proposed merger with WorldCom. He is the author and was the director of the company's crisis communications plan and served as the company spokesperson for major controversial issues. During his tenure, Robinson directed the communications efforts for all of Sprint's business units—business to business, consumer, and international. His work earned annual citation for excellence from Sprint. Before leaving the company, his team set new achievement records for media coverage and message placement. In 2001, his group won a Public Relations Society of America Silver Award for an innovative brand building and thought leadership program. In 2000, PR Magazine named him one of the top public relations professionals in the country.

At CompuServe, the world's first online commercial service, Robinson led the communications team for the company's Initial Public Offering. Under his leadership, media coverage increased by 60 percent in one year and unaided name recognition improved from 24 percent to 51 percent among key journalists. Promotional programs obtained over $100 million in publicity with an investment of $150,000.

Robinson was trained as a manager by IBM. During his 10 years with Big Blue, he did a variety of communications and PR jobs, rising from magazine editor for the company's largest marketing division to an IBM senior communications consultant. He served as a communications advisor to CXO-level executives at IBM's installations at Research Triangle Park, N.C.; Washington, D.C.; and Armonk, N.Y.

Before entering the corporate world, Robinson had a 15-year newspaper career with The Baltimore Sun, The Tampa Tribune, The Associated Press, and the Gannett paper that was the prototype for USA Today. He has won numerous national awards for aerospace and political coverage and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for his exposé on a controversial criminal trial.

Robinson earned a BA in Journalism from the University of South Carolina and an MBA from Trinity College. He and his wife Beth founded the largest, state-of-the-art daycare center in Kansas. Their daughter is a mortgage banker in Atlanta and working on her law degree. Their son is a veterinary technician in Greensboro, N.C. and a federally licensed handler of large carnivores and predators (lions and tigers).

	Most memorable inspiration:
	A little planning can save a lot of hard work and disappointment.

	Best career moment:
	When a junior person turned to me and said, "I've learned so much from you. Thanks."

	Worst career moment:
	Watching the advice I gave being ignored, then having to clean up the problem.

	When not working:
	Golf, hunting, fishing, gardening, and attempting to establish myself as the world's premier barbecue chef.