Johnny Cruz
Johnny Cruz is chief communications and marketing officer at the University of Arizona, overseeing marketing and communications for one of the country's leading public research universities. Through his experiences at global nonprofit organizations and leading research universities, Cruz has advanced the causes of higher education, global poverty, and the well-being of children.
Prior to joining the University of Arizona, he served as interim vice chancellor for University Advancement at UC Riverside, overseeing Development, Alumni Engagement, University Relations, and Advancement Administrative Services. He also was interim president of the UC Riverside Foundation.
He served as UC Riverside’s chief communications and marketing officer from 2018-2025, overseeing brand and creative, public relations, enrollment marketing, advancement communications, content and publications, executive communications, digital marketing, video and photography, issues management, and university events.
In 2023, the American Marketing Association named Cruz one of the three finalists for the national Higher Education Marketer of the Year.
While at UC Riverside he also worked as acting associate chancellor and chief of staff in the Office of the Chancellor. He joined UC Riverside from World Vision, where he was responsible for telling the global humanitarian organization's story through media and public relations, advocacy communications, celebrity engagement, disaster relief communications, fundraising campaigns, and influencer relations.
Before joining World Vision, he was assistant vice president for communications at the University of Arizona. In this position, he served as the university’s chief communications officer and oversaw institutional communications, media relations, content creation, internal communications, social media, crisis communications, and executive communications.
He also served in various brand management, marketing, and communications roles at the Make-A-Wish national headquarters. At Make-A-Wish America, he led the external communications division and managed national communications and marketing initiatives in English and Spanish.
He is chair of the Council on Strategic Communications executive committee for the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities, a member of the APLU board of directors, and has been a speaker and moderator at several national conferences on the topics of branding, marketing, communications, and talent management.