Dr. Frank I. Luntz:
Frank Luntz is one of the most honored communication professionals in America today. “The Nostradamus of pollsters,” said Sir David Frost, Time magazine named him one of “50 of America’s most promising leaders aged 40 and under” and he is the “hottest pollster” in America according to the Boston Globe. Frank was named one of the four “Top Research Minds” by Business Week and was a winner of the coveted Washington Post “Crystal Ball” award for being the most accurate pundit. His focus groups have become so influential that presidential candidate Barack Obama had this to say following the PBS presidential debate, “When Frank Luntz invites you to talk to his focus group, you talk to his focus group.”
Dr. Luntz has written, supervised, and conducted more than 2,000 surveys, focus groups, ad tests, and dial sessions in over two dozen countries and four continents over the past decade. Frank has become the go-to consultant when Fortune 100 companies and their CEOs need communication and language guidance, from General Motors to Federal Express, Disney to American Express, from AT&T to Microsoft, from Lowe’s to Pfizer, from Kroger supermarkets to McDonalds to the entire soft drink, hotel, and motion picture industries, as well as for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers and the Business Roundtable. In some capacity he has helped almost 30 Fortune 100 companies navigate the economic climate and connect more closely with consumers.
The “Instant Response” focus group technique pioneered by Frank has been profiled on 60 Minutes, Good Morning America (on Election Day 2008) and on the award-winning PBS show Frontline. He has been a guest on virtually every talk show in America, including Meet the Press, Nightline, The Today Show, Charlie Rose, The Jim Lehrer News Hour, The O’Reilly Factor, Tavis Smiley, Montel Williams, and Hardball. He also served as a consultant to the award-winning NBC hit show “The West Wing.”
More media outlets have turned to Dr. Luntz to understand the hopes and fears of Americans than to any other political pollster. In 2008, Frank was the “Focus Group Czar” for Fox News, conducting over 40 sessions in 14 states, as well as co-hosting four live hour-long prime time specials and dial sessions during every debate. He was a primary night and election night commentator for The News with Brian Williams on MSNBC in 2000 and for Hardball in 2004. His reoccurring segments on MSNBC/CNBC, “100 Days, 1000 Voices” won the coveted Emmy Award in 2001. Frank has conducted focus group sessions for all three major television networks, two of the three cable news channels, PBS and the BBC, as well as for The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, The New Yorker, and U.S. News & World Report.
Frank is the author of The New York Times best seller Words that Work: It’s Not What You Say it’s What People Hear. Now out in paperback, the book explores the art and science of language creation. His latest book, “What Americans Really Want … Really” addresses the private hopes, dreams and fears of the American people. He has written about language for The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, the Financial Times, The Times of London, and The Washington Post.
When he is not consulting, Dr. Luntz can often be found in front of a classroom. From 1989 until 1996, he was an Adjunct Professor at the University of Pennsylvania. He has also taught courses at Harvard and George Washington University.
Frank graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with an honors Bachelor of Arts degree in history and political science, and was awarded a Thouron Fellowship. He received his Doctorate in Politics at the age of 25 from Oxford University. He spoke for 24 straight hours as part of the Oxford Union Society’s Guinness World Book of Records debate. In the spring of 1993, Frank was named a Fellow at Harvard University’s Institute of Politics, the second youngest individual ever to receive this honor.
Liz Bieler
As Vice President of Customer and Employee Insights, Liz provides clients – largely Fortune 100 companies and non-profit organizations devoted to transformational, societal change -- with insights, language and communication strategies to engage and communicate more effectively with their audiences.
Liz joined The Word Doctors from AXA Assistance USA, a wholly owned subsidiary of The AXA Group, where she was Chief Marketing Officer. There, she provided medical and travel-related services designed to build loyalty for Credit Card, Insurance and Pharmaceutical companies. She built and managed client relationships focused primarily in the US and Latin America.
Prior to working at AXA Assistance, Liz spent 14 years at American Express in positions of increasing responsibility. There, she focused on the development and general management of fee-based and core card-related services in the US and in Latin America, primarily in the travel and medical insurance categories.
Ms. Bieler has a B.A. in economics from Tufts University and an M.B.A. in finance and marketing from Columbia University. She is fluent in Spanish and conversant in Italian. Her interest in communication extends to the arts. In her spare time, she also pursues her interest in voiceover acting and jazz singing. She is based in Miami, Florida.
Lowell Baker:
Lowell Baker is the Chief Language Officer for The Word Doctors. Dating back to 2002, Lowell has been Dr. Luntz’s lead political writer. He has written for heads of state, congressional leadership, governors, and state officials at every level of government. While his emphasis is political communications, he has also been deeply involved in corporate branding and market research.
His policy and communications areas of expertise include healthcare, taxation and budgeting, energy & environment, property insurance, and family/social policy issues. With exceptional skills and experience in speech writing, language testing, focus group moderating, and one-on-one language coaching, Lowell emphasizes delivering an A to Z communications consulting experience for his clients.
A Miami native, Lowell worked for three years in the Florida House of Representatives as a policy advisor and speechwriter for the Republican Conference under Speakers Allan Bense and Marco Rubio.
Lowell is a member of the Florida Bar. He is an honors graduate of The American University in Washington, DC and the Florida State University College of Law, both cum laude. He and his dog Reagan avidly and dutifully – if often disappointedly – support the Florida Marlins, Miami Dolphins, and Republican Party from his Florida home.
Shepherd Pittman:
Shepherd joins The Word Doctors team after serving as Press Secretary and Chief Speechwriter for the Florida Senate Majority Office. As the Senior Project Director, he is active in projects involving almost a dozen Fortune 500 companies and has written speeches for a half-dozen CEOs.
Hailing from Florida, he earned a B.A. in Communications from Thomas Edison State College and a Master’s in Applied American Politics and Policy from Florida State University. After teaching English in China for a year, he completed an professional internship at the Washington Times newspaper, where he wrote for the Nation, Culture, and Metro pages.
Joe Richards:
Joe Richards comes to The Word Doctors with nearly a decade of experience in the non profit sector as CEO/Executive Director of Fuel For Truth, a congressionally recognized advocacy organization focusing on Israel and the Middle East. Joe’s diverse background includes 11 years in the entertainment industry as a producer of feature films, award-winning commercials, and large-scale events in New York City. Joe attended Syracuse University and graduated with honors from NYU.
Alyssa Salvo:
Alyssa is a project director with The Word Doctors with a primary focus on consumer and branding challenges. Her specialty is in developing messaging for new products and services. Previously, she was a Project Coordinator at Luntz, Maslansky Strategic Research where she worked for a half-dozen Fortune 500 companies. She is a graduate from Princeton University.
Laura Vanasche:
Laura Vanasche is responsible for overseeing the media department and working on all media related projects including all instant response sessions, video editing and production. She directs all the Fox News research projects and live focus groups. Laura is a native Oregonian and received a Bachelors of Arts in political science from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. In her spare time Laura enjoys training for triathlons and half marathons, traveling and politics.
Matt George:
Matt is the presentations guru for The Word Doctors after attending the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. There, he received dual Bachelor's degrees in Film/Video Studies and Political Science, and has since continued his education at The George Washington University's Elliot School of International Affairs, pursuing a Masters in Security Policy Studies. He has also worked on strengthening the economic and political infrastructure of his hometown, Detroit, working with The Detroit Project and Habitat for Humanity.
William Duvall
William S. (Bill) Duvall is a financial professional with over 25 years experience in public, private and governmental accounting and tax areas. A licensed Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in multiple states as well as a Certified Valuation Analyst (CVA), Bill is the Chief Financial Officer and has worked with Frank Luntz for over 20 years in various capacities. Currently he heads up the administrative arm of the organization including finance and human resources.
Heidi Briguglio:
Heidi was the initial employee of The Word Doctors having followed Dr. Luntz from Luntz Maslansky Strategic research. She has supported Chief Executives for over a decade in the DC metro area. In addition to providing primary support to Dr. Luntz, she runs the speech line of business for The Word Doctors and helps to facilitate all administrative function.