Peter Faur, president of RightPoint Communications Inc., has been on the front lines of controversies ranging from environmental spills and cleanups to industrial fatalities to allegations of animal abuse at marine theme parks. He is known for keeping a cool head, getting people from many walks of life to talk together, and helping people learn how to explore each other’s concerns so they can find mutually agreeable solutions to problems they face.
Faur moved to Phoenix in late 2002 to head the communications staff of Phelps Dodge Corp., a copper-mining company acquired in 2007 by Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. As vice president-corporate communications, he was responsible for all the company’s internal and external communications programs. He designed and implemented a community relations and communications model now replicated in several communities in which the company is pursuing environmental remediation projects. While the issues are controversial, the company has been able to build bases of support and has kept strong, results-oriented dialogues in place.
Before joining Phelps Dodge, Faur’s 25-year career in St. Louis included positions at Southwestern Bell Corp., where he edited an award-winning employee magazine and served as the chairman’s speechwriter; Fleishman-Hillard, where, as a senior vice president, his major clients included Anheuser-Busch, Sea World, Illinois Power and Mallinckrodt Chemical Co.; and Mallinckrodt Inc., where he headed financial communications and served as the chairman’s speechwriter. Before entering the public relations field, he worked at the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, where he was a general assignment reporter, a religion editor and chief of the features copy desk.
Faur won a Gold Quill for excellence in magazine editing and a Silver Anvil as part of a team to combat federal excise tax increases on beer. He is accredited in public relations by the Public Relations Society of America.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in education from Concordia University, Chicago; a master’s degree in journalism from Kansas State University; and master’s degrees in business administration and management from Fontbonne University in St. Louis. He also completed the Columbia University executive education program in marketing and the Harvard-MIT seminar on dealing with an angry public.
Faur serves on the board of directors for the Phoenix Zoo. He and his wife, Pat, have two grown children, Paul and Kate.
