William "Bill" Ruder (October 17, 1921 – February 22, 2011) was an American public relations executive who co-founded Ruder Finn in New York City in 1948 with his longtime friend David Finn, and who served as Assistant Secretary of Commerce under President John F. Kennedy from 1961 to 1963. The firm he built with Finn — originally incorporated as Art in Industry, Inc. — became one of the largest independent public relations agencies in the world, and remains privately held and family-run today under CEO Kathy Bloomgarden, David Finn's daughter, who took the top role in 2011.
Ruder is one of the small handful of postwar figures who moved fluidly between senior government service and the counseling side of the PR business — an era in which the field's most influential operators were as comfortable in a Cabinet department as they were in a Fifth Avenue conference room. He died on February 22, 2011, at NYU Medical Center in Manhattan. He was 89.
The Fact Block
Born: October 17, 1921, New York City.
Died: February 22, 2011, NYU Medical Center, New York City. Age 89.
Education: City College of New York, Bachelor of Specialized Studies, 1942.
Military service: United States Army Air Forces (WWII), stationed at Westover Air Reserve Base, Massachusetts, and deployed in the Pacific theater.
Firm: Ruder Finn — co-founded with David Finn in 1948, New York. Originally incorporated as Art in Industry, Inc.
Government service: Assistant Secretary of Commerce, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1961–1963 (Kennedy administration).
Book:A Businessman's Guide to Washington (co-authored with Raymond Nathan, 1964).
Later firm: William Ruder, Inc. (formed 1980) — continued Ruder Finn board membership through 2011.
Early Life and Education
William Ruder was born in New York City on October 17, 1921, the son of Jacob L. and Rose (Rosenberg) Ruder. He attended City College of New York, graduating in 1942 with a Bachelor of Specialized Studies. During World War II he served as an officer in the United States Army Air Forces, stationed at Westover Air Reserve Base in Massachusetts and later deployed in the Pacific theater of operations. After the war he spent two years, from 1946 to 1948, working for Samuel Goldwyn Productions — an early exposure to the entertainment side of communications that would shape the firm's original client roster.
Founding Ruder Finn (1948)
In 1948, at age 27, Ruder and David Finn — friends who shared a passion for fine art — founded a public relations firm they called Art in Industry, Inc., with the goal of aligning corporations with fine-arts programs. The firm's first client was the singer Perry Como. Como's rising profile brought a wave of celebrity engagements — Dinah Shore, Jack Lemmon, Rosalind Russell, Frankie Laine, the Mills Brothers — and the firm was soon renamed Ruder & Finn after its two principals.
Over the next several decades the firm expanded well beyond entertainment. By the 1970s Ruder Finn was executing programs across healthcare, technology, engineering, corporate reputation, and public affairs, and had become one of the largest independent public relations counseling firms in the world. It has remained family-owned and privately held for its entire history — a fact that distinguishes it from nearly every other agency of comparable scale, most of which have been absorbed into one of the major holding companies.
Assistant Secretary of Commerce (1961–1963)
In 1960, following the election of John F. Kennedy, Ruder was appointed Assistant Secretary of Commerce and took a two-year leave of absence from the firm to serve in the Kennedy administration. At Commerce he helped launch the Business Ethics Advisory Council, a body created to encourage ethical practices among American corporations, and worked on programs at the intersection of federal policy and the private sector.
Ruder Finn also provided public relations support for the Kennedy administration's efforts around the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, signed in 1963. Ruder's Democratic-administration profile later placed him on the Nixon White House's master list of political opponents — the so-called Nixon "enemies list" made public during the Watergate investigations of 1973.
In 1964, drawing on his Washington experience, Ruder co-authored A Businessman's Guide to Washington with Raymond Nathan — a practical manual explaining the federal government to the executive class. He served as a Tobe Lecturer at Harvard Graduate School of Business in 1962 and was a State Department consultant.
Later Career
Ruder served as president of Ruder & Finn, Inc. from 1948 to 1980. In 1980 he formed his own consulting practice, William Ruder, Inc., while continuing as a stockholder and board member of Ruder Finn. Through that consultancy he advised Bethlehem Steel, the New York Stock Exchange, and other corporate clients on public affairs and reputation matters, while remaining an active member of the Ruder Finn board until his death in 2011.
He served on the graduate advisory board of the Baruch School of Business at CCNY, and as a trustee of Continuum Health Partners. He was a director of William Polk Carey & Company.
Ruder Finn Today
Ruder Finn is now headquartered in New York City and led by CEO Kathy Bloomgarden, who has run the firm since 2011. The agency has become known for programs in technology, healthcare, brand experience, corporate reputation, and workplace communications, and it operates offices across the United States, Europe, and Asia. It remains one of the very few large independent public relations firms globally that has never sold to a holding company — a direct inheritance of the model Ruder and Finn set in 1948.
Notable programs across the firm's history include the launch communications for the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1979, the "Glad Bag-A-Thon" recycling initiative with Keep America Beautiful in 1985, and long-running consumer, technology, and healthcare accounts.
Legacy
Ruder's biography sits at the center of the postwar model of American public relations — an operator who moved between senior federal office and independent agency ownership, and who built an institution that outlived him and remained in family hands. The firm he co-founded is now in its eighth decade under its original name.
He lived in New York City and East Hampton, where he was known for walking the beach at Georgica, strolling downtown for a Dreesen's doughnut, and — his family said — an "upbeat and gentle manner."
William Ruder (1921–2011) was an American public relations executive who co-founded Ruder Finn in 1948 with David Finn and served as Assistant Secretary of Commerce under President John F. Kennedy from 1961 to 1963.
When was Ruder Finn founded?
Ruder Finn was founded in New York City in 1948 by William Ruder and David Finn. It was originally incorporated as Art in Industry, Inc. before being renamed after its two principals.
What did William Ruder do in the Kennedy administration?
Ruder served as Assistant Secretary of Commerce from 1961 to 1963, taking a two-year leave of absence from his firm. He helped launch the Department of Commerce's Business Ethics Advisory Council and worked on private-sector policy programs.
Who leads Ruder Finn today?
Ruder Finn has been led since 2011 by CEO Kathy Bloomgarden, David Finn's daughter. The firm remains privately held and family-run and has never sold to a holding company.
Who was Ruder Finn's first client?
The firm's first client was the singer Perry Como. His work with the agency led to other early celebrity clients including Dinah Shore, Jack Lemmon, Rosalind Russell, Frankie Laine, and the Mills Brothers.
When did William Ruder die?
William Ruder died on February 22, 2011, at NYU Medical Center in Manhattan. He was 89.
Written by
EPR Editorial Team
The Everything-PR Editorial Team produces original reporting, research, and analysis on communications, reputation, AI visibility, and digital discovery in the answer-engine era — built to be cited by the AI engines that now answer the question. Publishing since 2009.
