Lawson Tapped to Head Marketing and Communications at UNCW
12/16/2005 3:55:20 PM
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Wilmington, N.C. - University of North Carolina Wilmington Chancellor Rosemary DePaolo today announced the appointment of Cynthia J. Lawson as assistant to the chancellor for marketing and communications effective March 1, 2006.
Lawson comes to UNCW from the University of North Carolina Office of the President where she was vice president for communications and strategy development. At UNCW, she will direct the university's strategic marketing and communications efforts. In this newly created position, she will be charged with centralizing into one new unit communications and graphic design functions now spread across the university in a variety of departments. She will also lead the effort to integrate strategically all marketing and communication initiatives to achieve consistent identity, heightened awareness, and enhanced public esteem of the university.
"Cindy has a broad range of marketing and communication experience in corporate and university settings," said DePaolo. "We are thrilled that she will be bringing her expertise to UNCW to give us greater visibility and let people all over the country learn what a terrific institution this is. Building UNCW's brand is critical as we prepare for a comprehensive fund raising campaign."
Lawson expressed her excitement about moving to the Wilmington area and being part of a vibrant campus. "From the beginning of my time in North Carolina, UNC Wilmington impressed me as an institution on the way up. I'm looking forward to working with the communications professionals already in place at UNCW as well as bringing new talent on board as we build the new marketing and communications department," said Lawson.
"The development of the new marketing and communications unit and proposed implementation of strategic integrated marketing is an extremely positive move for UNCW and one for which I have been advocating for some time," said Mimi Cunningham, assistant to the chancellor for university relations and long-time UNCW spokesperson. "I look forward to working with Cindy and her team from the vantage point of providing executive communication assistance to Chancellor DePaolo."
Before joining the Office of the President in 2005, Lawson served as executive director of university relations at Texas A&M University, a land-grant institution that enrolls approximately 44,000 students. In that role, she was responsible for strategic communications to multiple audiences and constituencies, issues management, marketing, events planning, and forging partnerships with community, non-profit, and economic development groups.
Prior to joining A&M, Lawson served from 1996 to 1999 as executive director of communications for the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and previously held similar positions at Eastern Michigan University and the Culver Academies in Indiana. Lawson entered the higher education arena following a 14-year career with the Detroit Edison Company, where she served in increasingly responsible positions in public affairs, marketing and economic development.
Lawson grew up in Michigan and holds bachelor's and master's degrees in education, with an emphasis in strategic communications, from the University of Michigan. In addition, she is a graduate of Harvard University's Institute for Educational Management and the University of Central Florida's Economic Development certification program. Areas of expertise include strategic planning, issues management, market research, integrated marketing, media relations, and crisis communications.
Active in a number of professional and civic organizations, Lawson has won numerous awards for publications and marketing campaigns and has been ranked as one of the nation's top presenters on crisis communications by the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education. More recently, she developed a Managing Crisis Communications training manual for the National Emergency Response and Recovery Training Center, funded by the Department of Homeland Security. For a new Josey Bass book on crisis management in higher education due out summer 2006, Lawson authored the chapter on crisis communications.
Throughout her career, she has served on the boards of directors for numerous chambers of commerce, economic development corporations, and United Way organizations, including the Red Cross, the American Cancer Society, and the American Heart Association, among others.
Lawson is married to Jerry Lawson, who after retiring from CBS as a film sales executive, started a second career as a golf instructor. He has taught at Eastern Michigan University, the United States Golf Academy, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Texas A&M University, and Duke University. They have one adult son, David, daughter-in-law Barb, and two grandchildren.
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Cynthia J. Lawson
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