Tom Forsythe is Page Center Professional-in-Residence

General Mills VP To Address ‘The Trust Imperative’

The lead communicator spearheading General Mills’ proactive efforts and responses on topics ranging from palm oil to marriage equality will present a free public lecture at Penn State.

Tom Forsythe, vice president of global communications for the Minneapolis, Minn.-based consumer foods company, will address “The Trust Imperative” at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 8, in the Nittany Lion Inn Boardroom.

Forsythe will discuss how General Mills explained that its Cheerios brand of breakfast cereal would “not be made with genetically modified ingredients ” -- a change the company thought consumers would embrace. He will also discuss how General Mills managed the controversy that ensued when Cheerios featured a multi-cultural family in its advertising -- and when General Mills took a public stand opposing a ban on same-sex marriage.

As vice president of global communications, Forsythe leads internal and external communications for General Mills around the world. He joined the company in 1991.

Forsythe’s visit for the Arthur W. Page Center Professional-in-Residence and Lecture Series is supported by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Along with his public lecture, Forsythe will participate in several classroom sessions and will work with individual faculty members during his visit.

The Page Center, housed in the College of Communications, is dedicated to the study and advancement of ethics and responsibility in corporate communication and other forms of public communication. The professional-in-residence program and lecture are designed to enable industry experts to interact with Penn State students in depth about communications-related issues, and to engage the public about timely issues.