Foster was part of the team that managed Johnson & Johnson's widely acclaimed response to the Tylenol® murders in 1982 and 1986, when eight people died after ingesting capsules that had been laced with cyanide. The company put the public interest first, in keeping with its Credo written by Robert Wood Johnson in 1943.

"To this day, the Tylenol® crisis is referred to both within and outside the PR community alike, as a model in crisis communications management," says PR Week magazine, which recently named Foster one of the 10 Most Influential PR People of the 20th Century. "The company's reputation could have been dealt an even more severe blow if not for the cool professionalism Foster displayed in managing its crisis communications and efforts to regain the public trust."

Foster's numerous awards include the 1989 Gold Anvil Award from the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) for outstanding contributions to the public relations profession, the 1988 Atlas Award from PRSA for lifetime achievement in international public relations and the 1994 Hall of Fame Award from the Arthur W. Page Society. He was president of the Page Society from 1990 to 1992 and the chairman of The Wisemen from 1986 to 1990, two associations of public relations executives.

Before joining Johnson & Johnson, Foster was a reporter, bureau chief and night editor of the Newark News in New Jersey. He is also the author of A COMPANY THAT CARES (1986), a history of Johnson & Johnson, and since 1986 he has been a trustee of The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in Princeton, NJ, the nation's largest health care philanthropy.

Foster graduated in 1948 from The Pennsylvania State University and has served as president of the Penn State Alumni Association, a University Trustee, chairman of the Fund Council and chairman of the Libraries Development Advisory Board. He received Penn State's Distinguished Alumnus Award, is an Alumni Fellow and recipient of the 1999 Lion's Paw Medal for service to the university. He is currently chairman of the academic committee of the Alumni Board of the College of Communications.

Since his retirement from Johnson & Johnson in 1990, Foster has devoted his time to writing and serving as a public relations counsel. Foster and his wife, Ellen, live in State College, PA, and Westfield, NJ. They have five children and eight grandchildren.