Robert J. Cornet, Principal
Cornet is a senior communications strategist, educator and consultant with 25 years experience. He has been the principal in his own communications firm (1997 to present and 1987-90); the Executive Director of University Relations at Butler University (1996-97); the Director of Communications at Towers Perrin (1990-96); an Associate Professor of Business and the Managing Director of the Academy for Corporate Governance at Fordham University (1987-90); Vice President for Corporate Affairs at NBC (1980-87); Manager of Editorial Services for Philip Morris Companies and Miller Brewing (1978-80); and Communications Officer for Hamilton County, Tennessee, Government (1975-78).

Dr. Cornet holds a PhD in English from the Pennsylvania State University and BA and MA degrees from Florida State University.

Representative clients include: Diageo North America, Greater Baltimore Medical Center, Kohl's Department Stores, Tillinghast, Towers Perrin, Eli Lilly, Clarian Health Partners, Miller Brewing Company, ComPsych.

Michelle Mannering, PhD, President
Dr. Mannering is a writer, editor, teacher, scholar and public historian with more than 20 years experience at fostering communication and helping other writers find their own, most powerful voices. During her career, she has been both the senior articles editor and book review editor of the American Historical Review, the oldest and most prestigious journal of history in the country. Writers for the Review have valued her distinct ability to help them articulate their arguments with clarity, persuasion, and force. She brought those same skills to book authors published by the Indiana University Press where she served as an editorial consultant, as well as to students at Butler University where she participated in the University's Intensive Writing program. Students at Butler and Indiana University honored her with six awards for teaching excellence.

A specialist in U.S.-- Native American Relations and U.S. - Middle Eastern Relations, her own publication includes editing and contributing to Always a People: Oral Histories of Contemporary Woodland Indian; "Mary Crow Dog: A Story of the American Indian Movement and the United States," published in The Human Tradition in America since 1945; "Colonialism, Nationalisms, and Identities in Egypt," delivered before the American Ethnological Society; and "Indigenous Resistance at the United Nations: The U.S., Egypt, and the UN," delivered before the Indiana Association of Historians.

Dr. Mannering speaks frequently to community, civic, and professional organizations on U.S. diplomacy and the Middle East. She has served as the Executive Director of the Midwest Association of Middle East and Islamic Studies since 2000. She holds a PhD in history from Indiana University, Bloomington, and an MA and BA, magna cum laude, in history from the University of North Texas.