Recommendations

At the University of California, San Diego, Jim’s innovative approach to media relations expanded our exposure in national and international media. For the first time, stories about UC San Diego consistently appeared in global news services covering Asia, Africa and South America. Blogs widely read by industry and government leaders covered stories about our advanced sustainable energy program, while the UC San Diego brand as “greenest university,” which Jim originated, dominates the top ten in a Google search. That’s the coverage that any institution, organization or company wants in the new age of media.

Clare M. Kristofco
Associate Chancellor
University of California, San Diego

Jim Gogek significantly enhanced the media identity for Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation (PIRE) by working closely with our researchers and practitioners and then translating their work for reporters, editors and producers. Our work on public health risks is often difficult to understand, but Jim could digest it and then convert the scientific text into stories that the media readily picked up. He also directed the redesign of our website, transforming it into a vibrant place for news and information. Jim is also an excellent op-ed writer, penning articles about our work that appeared in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post and Christian Science Monitor.

Bernard E. Murphy, Ph.D.
President & CEO
Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation (PIRE)

I worked with Jim for more than a decade as a journalist, and he’s one of the sharpest minds I know. Never content with just the news, Jim had a passion for looking deeply into issues, searching out the causes of problems and figuring out solutions to them. Complex technological and social issues interested him most, and his best research, reporting and writing came in areas such as energy, water issues, mental illness and homelessness. Policy-makers followed his ideas closely because he was always ahead of the curve.

James O. Goldsborough
Chief Editorial Writer and Columnist
San Diego Union-Tribune

Jim’s grasp of renewable energy policy made it extremely enjoyable to work with him. This is complex material, and it’s changing every day. Jim not only kept up with the changes in renewable energy policy, but he also could see where it was going next and where the opportunities lay. Best of all, he could clearly explain it to people in terms that showed how it affects their lives. We need more communicators like Jim working in renewable energy.

Byron Washom
Director of Strategic Energy Initiatives
University of California, San Diego

For more than a decade, Jim Gogek was the top editorial writer on water issues in California, and maybe in the entire West. His writing was an important factor in a landmark plan to sell water from farms to cities, which Jim consistently advocated for in his editorials. He knows both the details and the 30,000-foot picture of western water policy like few people outside the water community do.

Dennis Cushman
Assistant General Manager
San Diego County Water Authority.

When working with us on a global project for monitoring tobacco use, Jim Gogek showed that he is highly skilled at taking complex subjects and turning them into compelling prose. He quickly discovers what’s really important in research and other material and then develops messages that get to the heart of the matter. And then he delivers that message to an audience in language that they really want to read and hear.

Dr. Samira Asma
Associate Director of Global Tobacco Control
Centers for Disease Control

Jim’s work on a complicated global tobacco epidemic report was very professional. Experts from around the world were involved, and Jim listened carefully to information from each of them, sifted through dozens of research reports, found new research evidence, and then helped craft a final document that was very well received throughout the world. Not only does it make the strongest case for global tobacco control, but it’s also a very good read.

Dr. Douglas Bettcher
Director, World Health Organization - Tobacco Free Initiative.