Charlie Arnot, founder and CEO of Look East and founder of the Center for Food Integrity, was honored as the 2024 CoJMC Alumni Master during Masters Week from April 3-5. Alumni Masters Week is a program sponsored by the Nebraska Alumni Association (NAA), the Student Alumni Association Board of Directors and the UNL Chancellor's Office. During Masters Week, outstanding alumni return to campus to share their experiences and knowledge with students.
A 1986 CoJMC graduate, Arnot started his career in radio at KLIN radio in Lincoln before moving into video and film, where he worked on documentaries like Michael Moore's "Roger and Me."
While working in film production, Arnot's interest in public relations grew, and he shifted career paths when he joined the public relations team at Premium Standard Farms, a pork producer in Missouri, in 1993.
He left Premium Standard Farms in 2004 to open Look East, an employee-owned public relations consulting firm in Kansas City, Missouri, focusing on building trust rather than defending a position.
In 2007, Arnot helped found the Center for Food Integrity, a group of companies, associations and nongovernmental organizations that have come together to build trust in the food system. He credits the founding as his greatest professional achievement because he is working to shift the paradigm of communicating successfully about agriculture-related issues.
Today, Arnot has over 25 years of experience in communications, public relations and issues management within the food system. He is highly regarded as both a writer and a sought-after speaker who engages audiences around the globe.
While on campus for Masters Week, Arnot guest lectured in several CoJMC courses and experiential learning programs, including students in Introduction to Advertising and Public Relations and Media, Ethics and Society.
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Charlie Arnot speaks to students in our Introduction to Advertising and Public Relations course in Henzlik Hall.
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Alumni Master Charlie Arnot shares how his career path led him to where he is today. -
Charlie Arnot talks with Introduction to Advertising and Public Relations students after class. -
Professor and William H. Kearns Chair in Journalism Frauke Hachtmann (left) and Charlie Arnot share a laugh after Arnot's presentation in Hachtmann's Introduction to Advertising and Public Relations course. -
Alumni Master Charlie Arnot presents to Media, Ethics and Society students about 'Building Trust in a Post Truth World.'
He also spoke with students at Jacht Agency and met with the student leadership team in the Buoy Experience Lab program. Following the meeting with Buoy's student leads, he led a roundtable discussion about the future of the industry with the entire Buoy crew.
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Charlie Arnot leads a roundtable discussion with Buoy Experience Lab students.
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Alumni Master Charlie Arnot pictured with students in the Buoy Experience Lab.
Last fall, Arnot spoke to students enrolled in the Production House Experience Lab program. One of the students who attended Arnot's talk was Maddie Kreifels, an agricultural leadership, education and communications major with minors in broadcasting and agribusiness entrepreneurship from Syracuse.
Kreifels chatted with Arnot after he presented and handed him her business card. Ever since Kreifels gave Arnot her business card, they've been meeting once a month on Zoom. While in town for Masters Week, Arnot met with Kreifels over lunch to connect. Watch a video about the mentorship below:
Associate professor and 90.3 KRNU general manager Rick Alloway interviewed Arnot about the importance of building trust in strategy on Campus Voices. Listen to the episode here: https://share.transistor.fm/s/ac4a5517.
Arnot closed out his time in Lincoln celebrating fellow outstanding Husker alumni and friends at the Nebraska Alumni Association's Medallion Dinner. Watch his speech below:
Since 1964, more than 400 alumni have participated in Alumni Masters. The selection of the Alumni Masters is competitive. Candidates are alumni who have shown great promise, success and leadership in their fields. Each spring, a committee of faculty and administrators makes recommendations to the chancellor, who chooses the participants for the program.
To learn more about Master's Week, visit https://www.huskeralum.org/s/1620/index.aspx?sid=1620&gid=1&pgid=504.