Malcolm P. Ehrhardt has dedicated his professional career to the study of mass communication and its effect on people and business. He has authored two major, independent, in-depth studies of television news that analyzed, categorized and interpreted more than 2,000 news broadcasts.

As an accredited member of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), Ehrhardt has counseled some of the Gulf South's largest companies. His current client list includes the New Orleans Hornets, Capital One Bank, Waste Management of Louisiana, the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority, the Disaster Housing Assistance Program and Corporate Realty, Inc. He has also conducted focus group research projects on behalf of the Louisiana State Police, Louisiana Dept. of Labor, Dept. of Revenue and Dept. of Environmental Quality.

Ehrhardt is an adjunct professor at LSU's Manship School of Mass Communication. He has a Masters of Science in Communications Management from the Newhouse School at Syracuse University.

He also received undergraduate and graduate education at the University of New Orleans. He has a strong commitment to professional advancement, participating in development courses focusing on Corporate Communications and Strategic Planning. He completed a seminar sponsored by Harvard Law School on Dealing with an Angry Public, authored numerous articles for publication and served as a speaker for seminars and workshops. He has handled more than 150 crisis situations in his career.

Ehrhardt served as an infantryman in the U.S. Army in Vietnam and was later commissioned as an artillery officer in the famed Washington Artillery housed in Jackson Barracks, New Orleans. He was awarded a Bronze Star Medal and Combat Infantry Badge, along with Vietnam Service Ribbons for his service in the First Cavalry Division.

He served as president of the Greater New Orleans Executives Association, and in 2008 he was named Executive of the Year. He served on the board of directors for the New Orleans Regional Chamber of Commerce and as president of the University of New Orleans Privateer Athletic Foundation. Ehrhardt's programs have garnered eight PRSA Silver Anvil Awards. In 1997, he was awarded the Lifetime Service Award from the University of New Orleans National Alumni Association. He has also worked Super Bowls, NCAA Final Four Championships, the Republican National Convention and the Papal Visit to New Orleans in 1987.