Bill Ruder and David Finn were childhood friends who, in 1948, decided to start a business which would focus on what was then an innovative concept. The idea was to interest the business community in fine arts programs as a way of achieving corporate public relations benefits, and in the process provide new sources of support for contemporary artists. They originally called their company Art In Industry, Inc. and had their first office in a tiny space that was the linen closet of the Lombardy Hotel at 111 East 56th Street in Manhattan. They were both 27 years old.

A prominent lawyer friend, Jack Katz, was impressed by the comprehensive presentation they had put together for Art In Industry and suggested that they apply their creativity to other fields as well. He helped them get their first client (for what they then decided to call Ruder & Finn Associates) – to promote the records of a young singer named Perry Como. At the end of the first year of working together, Perry Como won first place on the "Billboard" poll of the most popular recording artists and he took out a full page advertisement thanking Bill Ruder and David Finn for their fine work. Subsequently Ruder Finn had many other top entertainment figures as clients, including Dinah Shore, Frankie Laine, The Mills Brothers, Jack Lemmon and Rosalind Russell. That was the beginning of what later became a broad-gauged public relations firm.

The founders never lost the original commitment to the arts and over the years they have been credited with having given important impetus to the whole concept of corporate involvement in the cultural world. A key element of the firm's tradition, this role is today carried on by its division, Arts & Communications Counselors.