"Communication for Everyone"

After a quarter-century of teaching and research at Mainz University of Applied Sciences, Prof. Dr. Lothar Rolke—who was responsible for business administration and corporate communications there—will retire on March 1, 2020, or, as he himself puts it, “embark on a new freedom.” For many years, Rolke was the only professor in the German-speaking world to teach corporate communications/PR as part of a traditional business administration program. In this regard, he pursued the goal from the very beginning of highlighting the business significance of corporate communications and assigning it a strategic role in the management of stakeholder communications. “I’ve always viewed my role in teaching as twofold,” says Rolke: “On the one hand, to systematically support those who will later pursue careers in corporate communications, and on the other hand, to familiarize those who see their future in marketing, controlling, or human resources with PR and public relations,” he explained at the internal farewell event for his department “Marketing – Corporate Communications – Media Economics (MUM).” According to his credo, expertise in matters of both internal and external communication is now an essential part of every executive’s skill set. Together with colleagues from universities, companies, and agencies, Rolke played a key role in developing a controlling system for corporate communications that is now recognized as the official standard by both the International Controllers Association and the PR associations in Switzerland and Austria. In both neighboring countries, he also regularly held teaching positions in communication controlling. Early in his career as a professor, he published on the business value of PR, demonstrating the monetary benefits of public relations. On the theoretical front, he introduced the concept of the Stakeholder Compass and, together with collaborators, published widely acclaimed empirical studies on excellence in corporate communications. Within the university, he chaired the Senate Committee on Communication for many years. Together with his colleague Prof. Dr. Andrea Beyer, he also developed a new program for annual field trips with student groups to so-called emerging markets, which he conducted alongside other colleagues: First, the trips took them to the BRIC countries, followed by Vietnam, Mexico, Korea, Indonesia, Taiwan, the Philippines, Ghana, and South Africa. “Practical disciplines such as business administration and communication management do not thrive on book knowledge alone, but always require concrete experience—and today, this experience must also be international, because culture plays a much greater role in business and communication than textbooks can convey,” he emphasizes. Outside the university, Rolke was active in associations, on juries, and on advisory boards. He intends to retain some of these roles—even after his official farewell from Mainz University of Applied Sciences on April 24, 2020. Travel, lectures, and select consulting projects are also on the agenda for his new chapter of freedom. He began his professional career 35 years ago at the agency Reporter PR, where he served as managing director and co-partner.