Our Staff

Larry Smith
President, Institute for Crisis Management

Larry L. Smith, former television news director, press secretary and newspaper editor, works with executives of organizations seeking to minimize the negative public reaction to a business crisis. He also assists in developing pro-active crisis communication plans and teaches seminars in crisis management.

Mr. Smith has more than 45 years experience in the news and public relations business. He began his professional career as a photographer for United Press International and two Indiana newspapers. He later worked as a newspaper editor and radio talk show host.

He worked his way up through the television news ranks to manage one of the top rated news departments in the country at WHAS TV in Louisville. Under his leadership the station earned a National Headliners' Club award for "Outstanding News Reporting" for the year. He had earlier served as news director at WSBT TV in South Bend, IN; WANE TV, Fort Wayne, IN; and WJPS Radio in Evansville, IN.

Mr. Smith was summoned to Washington, DC, in the early 80s to serve as Press Secretary to then-Senator Dan Quayle. As the senator's press secretary, he dealt regularly with the White House Press Office and worked daily with the national media. Smith also guided Senator Quayle, a member of the Armed Services Committee, through the media onslaught following the downing of a U.S. airliner over North Korea.

Mr. Smith also has had experience in public relations at the local government level. He served for four years as Director of Communications for Jefferson County, the largest county government in Kentucky.

He is a former adjunct professor of broadcast journalism at Indiana University Southeast and has conducted corporate media training for more than 25 years. He has also worked with television stations, consulting with news managers, coaching talent and conducting news writing and producing seminars.

Mr. Smith is a graduate of Indiana University. He is former president of the Kentucky Chapter of IABC and former vice-president of the Louisville Chapter, Society of Professional Journalists, and a member of the Radio-Television News Directors Association. He served for six years as a public information officer in the U.S. Air Force and Air Force Reserve.

In 2003 he was named a Batten Fellow at the Darden Graduate School of Business, University of Virginia. As part of his fellowship, Smith and Professor Erika James co-authored and edited a new book Crisis Leadership published in 2006.

Smith and former ICM Senior Consultant Dr. Dan Millar co-authored two books on crisis management. Crisis Management and Communication: How to Gain and Maintain Control is in its second edition and published by the International Association of Business Communicators. Smith and Millar also wrote Before Crisis Hits, aimed at college and university administrators and published by the American Association of Community Colleges. Smith also contributed chapters to Crisis Communications in Healthcare: A Delicate Balance, published by Washington Business Information, Inc.

He was inducted into the Kentucky PRSA/IABC Landmarks of Excellence Communicators' Hall of Fame in 2004, honoring those who have made a lasting difference and whose contributions have made an impact on the profession. And in 2004, PRWeek named Mr. Smith one of the nation's top 22 "crunch time counselors."