Bios

Donald A. Baer Chairman, Penn, Schoen and Berland Associates

Donald A. Baer is Chairman of Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates, Washington, D.C.

Don has had a career spanning the worlds of media, communications, politics, government, journalism and law. He has worked across a wide range of enterprises in the public and private sectors, focusing on strategy as well as business and creative operations and development.

From 1998 to 2007, Don was Senior Executive Vice President for Strategy and development of Discovery Communications, home of the Discovery Channel. As member of the executive committee reporting to the CEO, he oversaw new ventures and acquisitions, new media strategy and operations, corporate affairs, communications, research, and public policy. He spearheaded several efforts on the content and creative side, to make Discovery an established leader in the current affairs and contemporary history categories by his instrumental role in production of a series of documentaries and a feature film. In brand marketing, Don led numerous efforts to extend Discovery’s reach in partnership with major non-profit groups, such as the American Film Institute and the National Park Service.

From 1994 to 1998, Don held a variety of positions in the Clinton White House, including Assistant to the President, White House Communications and Strategic Planning Director, White House Director of Speechwriting and Research, and Chief Speechwriter, for which he was widely recognized as one of the essential people who turned around the Clinton Presidency, leading to the historic re-election. Don has worked as a senior adviser on every Democratic Presidential campaign since 1996.

Before his accomplished political career, Don was a journalist. He served as a top editor for U.S. News and World Report, an analyst for CBS News and a writer with articles in The New York Times, Gentlemen’s Quarterly, and Rolling Stone. He was also a lawyer at the New York City law firm of Patterson, Belknap, Webb & Tyler, specializing in media litigation.

Don is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and of several for-profit and not-for-profit boards. He received a B.A. (Phi Beta Kappa) from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a Master's in International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science (Rotary International Fellowship) and a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law.  

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