Erich Sommerfeldt

Erich J. Sommerfeldt studies the ways in which communication contributes to social change and (re)building relationships in developing nations, and in crisis, conflict prone, or post-conflict societies. He publishes across public relations, public diplomacy, networks, and organizational communication areas.

• Sommerfeldt is the Editor-in-Chief of Public Relations Review, the largest, oldest, and most widely read academic journal in the public relations discipline. 
• In 2020, Sommerfeldt was selected by the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine and the U.S. Department of State as a Jefferson Science Fellow—the only communication scholar ever to receive this honor. 
• He was appointed as a Senior Advisor to the State Department in 2022. 
• He is a two-time winner of the “Best Article of the Year” award from the Public Relations Division of the National Communication Association.
• Sommerfeldt has repeatedly consulted for the U.S. Department of State and USAID and has been invited to lecture by the Department of Defense Information School, the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Army Reserve, NATO, and the Norwegian Business School.
• He is a member of the Arthur W. Page Society and the Vice-Chair of the Public Relations Division of the International Communication Association.