David Bell

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David Bell

As member of the prestigious Advertising Hall of Fame, Mr. Bell has over 40 years of experience in the marketing communications sector. He is Chairman Emeritus and previously served as Chairman and CEO of The Interpublic Group, Inc., one of the world’s largest marketing communications service companies.

Mr. Bell previously held the positions of Chairman and CEO of True North Communications Inc., the world’s sixth largest global advertising and marketing communications holding company. Mr. Bell was also President and CEO of Bozell Worldwide, where he helped grow the agency from $12 million to over $500 million in revenues; and prior to that was President of Knox Reeves Advertising, which was acquired by Bozell.

In his career, he has served virtually every kind of industry, from automotive to financial services; consumer packaged goods as well as business-to-business. Mr. Bell serves the industry as Past Chairman of The Advertising Council, The American Advertising Federation, The Advertising Educational Foundation and The American Association of Advertising Agencies. Mr. Bell was inducted into the Advertising Hall of Fame by his peers in March 2007.

Mr. Bell is an independent Director of Warnaco, Primedia, and Lighting Science Group Corporation (LSCG). For 4 ½ years he served as a Senior Advisor with Google, a position that he now holds at AOL. A graduate of Macalester College, Mr. Bell is a past Trustee of both Macalester College and The Pittsburgh Theological Seminary.

"There is no substitute for Excellence – not even success. Success is tricky, perishable and often outside our control; the pursuit of success makes a poor cornerstone, especially for a whole personality. Excellence is dependable, lasting and largely an issue within our own control; pursuit of excellence, in and for itself, is the best of foundations,” The Heart of the Order, by Thomas Boswell (Doubleday, 1989).