NEW YORK – November 18, 2009 – John Jay College of Criminal Justice today announced the appointment of Alan Siegel to the John Jay College Foundation Board. Mr. Siegel is Founder and CEO of Siegel+Gale, one of the world’s premier strategic branding companies.

“Over its 40-year history, Siegel+Gale, led by Alan Siegel, has demonstrated that successful brands live or die through the customer experience they deliver, and that this extends far beyond advertising or communications,” says Jeremy Travis, President of John Jay College. “Alan’s genius is his ability to distill the essence of an organization into its own distinctive ‘voice’ that then translates into every medium – powerfully, clearly, and simply. This skill has never been more needed than it is today. His wealth of knowledge and expertise will be invaluable as we develop our strategic plan for the future growth of John Jay.”

Alan Siegel is a founder of the Plain Language movement. Siegel+Gale’s “Simple is Smart” philosophy applies the art and science of simplicity to create branding programs that have helped many of the world’s best-known organizations excel.

“John Jay is an impressive institution that has enormous appeal to young people who want to build careers as public servants in Justice and Social Services. Jeremy Travis has grown the college to an impressive stature, and there is no stopping him. I very much look forward to supporting and helping to accelerate the College’s upward trajectory,” says Mr. Siegel.

As consultant, teacher, and commentator, Mr. Siegel’s influence extends to creating strategic branding programs for organizations such as 3M, American Express, AARP, the National Basketball Association, Caterpillar, The Girl Scouts, Xerox, CBS, Phoenix House, and The Legal Aid Society. He also serves on the boards of numerous business and cultural organizations, including the Museum of Arts and Design, the Authors Guild Foundation, Hamptons International Film Festival, Turnaround for Children, Business for Diplomatic Action, Lapham’s Quarterly, and the American Theater Wing, where he is a TONY Awards voter.

He is the author of an extensive series of personal guides for The Wall Street Journal, including the bestseller, The Wall Street Journal Guide to Understanding Money and Markets (Lightbulb Press), as well as Writing Contracts in Plain English (West Publishing) and Simplified Consumer Credit Forms (Warren Gorham & Lamont). One of the world’s foremost collectors of fine photographs, he is also the author of One Man’s Eye: Photographs from the Alan Siegel Collection, which was published by Harry N. Abrams in October 2000, and Step Right This Way: The Photographs of Edward J. Kelty, published by Barnes & Noble in October 2002.

In December 2006, Jorge Pinto Books published Alan Siegel on Branding and Clear Communications by Louis J. Slovinsky as part of its Working Biographies series.

A graduate of Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Mr. Siegel also attended New York University Law School, the School of Visual Arts and Alexei Brodovich’s Design Laboratory.

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About Siegel+Gale

Siegel+Gale is a global strategic branding firm committed to building world-class brands through elegantly simple, unexpectedly fresh strategies, stories and experiences. With Simple is Smart as its operating philosophy, Siegel+Gale delivers powerful services in brand development, identity design, simplification, research and analytics, and digital strategy.

Since its founding by branding pioneer Alan Siegel in 1969, Siegel+Gale has helped drive business results for brands such as Aetna, American Express, Bank of America, China Youth Development Foundation, Dell, Dow Chemical Company, The Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, The Internal Revenue Service, The King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Microsoft, Motorola, Pfizer, SAP, Sony PlayStation, Yahoo! and the YMCA.

Siegel+Gale has offices in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, London, Hamburg, Dubai, Shanghai and Beijing and strategic partnerships around the world as a member of the Omnicom Group of companies.

For more information please contact Gail Nelson at 212.453.0400 or gnelson@siegelgale.com.