“Intellectual Brilliance and Brilliant Kindness”
Otto Lerbinger, who retired in 2004, was BU’s longest-serving faculty member.
“Intellectual Brilliance and Brilliant Kindness”
COM’s Otto Lerbinger, authority on corporate affairs, crisis management, dies at 98
Otto Lerbinger, a College of Communication professor emeritus, taught public relations at COM for 50 years before his retirement in 2004, making him Boston University’s longest-serving faculty member. But it was his mix of knowledge and kindness that the University community remembered after he died, on September 17, 2023. He was 98.
“I’ve met hundreds of academics, and Otto was among the very top,” says Edward Downes, a COM associate professor of public relations, recalling how Lerbinger helped him navigate the transition from industry to academics. “He brought an admirable combination of intellectual brilliance and brilliant kindness.”
Janice Barrett (COM’80), a former COM associate professor, remembered Lerbinger as “a brilliant academic, a prolific writer, and a trailblazer in our field. A gentle, kind, compassionate soul, he offered sage advice and unwavering support.”
Amy Shanler (CAS’96, COM’96,’04), a COM associate professor of the practice of public relations, was a graduate student in Lerbinger’s Crisis Communication course in 2001 when planes struck the World Trade Center towers in New York City.
“Dr. Lerbinger was a pillar of strength and empathy during the September 11 attacks, helping our class try to make sense of the senseless and find hope during a dark and scary time,” Shanler says. “I am eternally grateful for having the opportunity to learn from this smart and empathetic human.”
Lerbinger was an internationally recognized authority on corporate affairs, crisis management, and communication theory. He earned a BA from Brooklyn College, an MS from the University of Chicago, and a PhD in economics from MIT. His publications exploring public relations include the books The Crisis Manager: Facing Disasters, Conflicts, and Failures and Corporate Public Affairs: Interacting With Interest Groups, Media, and Government. He also was a consultant to commercial clients and gave seminars around the world.
In 2003, Lerbinger was named the inaugural recipient of COM’s first endowed chair, the Harold Burson Chair in Public Relations. At the ceremony announcing the chair, then-BU Provost Dennis Berkey said Lerbinger “is one of those senior scholars on the faculty who carry the character and the aspirations of the University with him constantly, serving as a member of the Faculty Council, serving on key committees across the campus, and always being there with a watchful eye and a thoughtful mind and a willingness to speak up and say what needs to be said.”
John Schulz, the dean of COM at the time, said at the ceremony that Lerbinger, “despite being the longest-serving member of faculty on our campus, retains an energy and enthusiasm in the classroom that is seldom equaled and never surpassed. Each term, students note the demand and rigor of his classes and then give him rave reviews.”
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