Fred Cook
Director
USC Annenberg Center for Public Relations
Fred Cook directs the USC Annenberg Center for Public Relations and is a professor of professional practice at the USC Annenberg School. After decades leading Golin, including years as CEO, he now runs research and curriculum that help communicators understand AI as a brand gatekeeper, including the Message vs. The Machine report with WE Communications.
Three Decades at Golin
Cook spent more than three decades at the global public relations agency Golin, including about thirteen years as CEO, and remains chair emeritus.
In 2015 he became director of the USC Annenberg Center for Public Relations and a professor of professional practice in journalism. The center surveys communications professionals and publishes the Relevance Report on how the craft is changing, giving students and practitioners a recurring data snapshot.
The Relevance Report
Under Cook the center's Relevance Report became a widely cited annual read on where PR leaders say the industry is heading, covering trust, technology, talent, and the business of communications. Interviews such as USC Annenberg's Five Minutes With Fred Cook show him pressing the field on relevance when channels and gatekeepers keep changing.
He also wrote Improvise: Unorthodox Career Advice from an Unlikely CEO, extending classroom and stage teaching into career counsel. Ethics, fake news, and leadership show up repeatedly in his public conversations.
A Report with WE Communications
In November 2025 the center co-published Message vs. The Machine, a GEO-titled report with WE Communications on how communicators prepare for AI as a brand gatekeeper. The project surveyed more than 600 U.S. communicators and included a practical playbook for monitoring brand visibility and shaping stories AI systems cite.