Bohlander Appointed SVP, Chief Communications and Marketing Officer

Dear Students and Colleagues,

I am pleased to announce that I have appointed Brad Bohlander as our new Senior Vice President and Chief Communications and Marketing Officer. He will begin his role at the University of Arizona Sept. 5, reporting directly to me as a key member of the University’s senior executive team.

Mr. Bohlander is well known and respected as an effective communications, public relations, and marketing leader in higher education, and he has a tremendous record of integrating institution-wide strategic communications and marketing efforts, improving reputation and brand strength, building crisis communications systems, and working as a collaborative partner with peer leaders and community stakeholders. He joins the University of Arizona from North Carolina State University, where he has served as Chief Communications and Marketing Officer for more than a decade.

His 20-plus year higher education career includes prior communications and leadership roles at Colorado State University and the University of Colorado System. With this background, he brings deep understanding of the mission, importance, and complexities of large public universities such as ours, and he has consistently demonstrated how to elevate their institutional profiles and impact. While at Colorado State University, Mr. Bohlander led a successful crisis communications effort in collaboration with the CSU Police Department and campus public safety officials. He built on this experience at NC State where he leads the university’s integrated crisis communications and issues management efforts and serves in a leadership role on the university’s emergency operations team. As you will recall, implementing effective crisis communication plans for the University of Arizona, consistent with the PAX Group recommendations provided in March, remains an institutional priority.

Mr. Bohlander’s appointment comes after a national search that attracted many excellent candidates. I would like to thank the search advisory committee members for their contributions to this process as we identified an incredible leader to help shape our strategic direction and to position us well for the future, and we appreciate John Denker for his interim leadership over the past several months. Among other accomplishments, Mr. Bohlander has led, developed and significantly improved systemwide communications at two major land grant universities, and I am excited for the proven leadership he will bring for our central communications and marketing teams as well as their peers and collaborators throughout the University.

Mr. Bohlander grew up in Colorado, has strong family ties to Arizona, and mentioned how he is excited to return to this part of the country and eager to help lead the University of Arizona to new heights. I hope all of you will join me in giving Brad and his family a warm welcome home to Tucson. I look forward to working with him to develop a collaborative vision for transparent, comprehensive, and effective communications and marketing that will best serve the University, our mission, and our students for years to come.

Best regards,

Robert C. Robbins, M.D.

President

The University of Arizona

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