Walter G. Montgomery is Chief Executive Officer and  a Partner of Robinson Lerer & Montgomery, an 85-person strategic communications firm founded in 1986 and based in New York City.

Mr. Montgomery specializes in developing and executing communications strategies for companies in health care, financial services and a wide range of other industries. On behalf of clients in the U.S. and key international markets, his work has encompassed crisis management, financial transactions, reputation-building programs, litigation, employee communications, public-policy issues and philanthropic initiatives.

Before his firm was founded, Mr. Montgomery served as the Senior Vice President of global corporate communications for American Express Company. Prior to joining American Express, he was a partner at the New York-based financial communications consulting firm of Kekst and Company.

Mr. Montgomery holds Ph.D. and M.A. degrees in Chinese history from Brown University and a B.A. in political science from Syracuse University. At the New York University Graduate School of Business Administration, he completed the Careers in Business Program for Ph.D.s in humanities and social sciences. He taught Chinese and Russian history at the college level before pursuing a business career.

Mr. Montgomery is a member of the Board of Trustees of Irvington, NY and previously served as a Trustee and President of the Irvington Board of Education and as a member of the Irvington Planning Board. He is also a director of Project HOPE (the international health care organization), the YMCA of Greater New York and the Union Settlement Association of East Harlem. In addition, Mr. Montgomery is  a member and past Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Maxwell School and a member of the Advisory Board of the Neuropathy Association. He is a Vietnam-era veteran of the United States Army. He and his wife, Marian Gruber, have five children and three grandchildren.