Ron has spent his entire professional career the world of marketing communication.  After graduating from the University of Washington, he started as a copywriter at the then largest Northwest agency, Cole & Weber. 

After serving as an Army officer during the Viet Nam crisis, he returned to the business side of his former agency.  Having honed his management skills on accounts such as Boeing, Weyerhaeuser, and Westin Hotels he was named Managing Director of the Seattle office.  Ron left the comfort of his “job” to enter the world of “entrepreneurship” by co-founding ElginSyferd in 1981.  The agency was a pioneer in the art and science of total integration which helped it become the region’s largest with a quarter billion dollars of billings and 200+ employees serving such clients as Genentech, Holland America Line, Jansport, Microsoft, McDonald’s, Nordstrom and Swedish Medical Center.  He sold the agency in 1989 to the global communications giant, DDB Worldwide and took on new roles as CEO for DDB West and national board member until his retirement in 2011.  During his long and storied career he co-founded six successful companies including the region’s largest graphic design firm and the premier direct marketing company.  He’s received numerous awards including Citizen of the Year from Big Brothers, Lifetime Achievement Award from American Advertising Federation, and a recent inductee to the UofW’s School of Communications Hall of Fame. 

He has authored two best-selling autobiographies, Huckster, My Life as an Ad Man, and The Man Behind The Curtain, serves on a number of boards including Fluidmaster, Knowledge Anywhere, Nxt Chnl, Utrip, Opt-In Media and consults with several marketing firms.