Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin announced Thursday that Ellen de Graffenreid will serve as MU’s new vice chancellor of marketing and communications.
De Graffenreid is the vice president for communications at [Brandeis University](http://www.brandeis.edu/) in Waltham, Massachusetts (a fellow member of the Association of American Universities) and will start her new position Sept. 2.
At MU, de Graffenreid will earn a starting salary of $220,000.
“I am excited to have the opportunity to lead a talented staff in developing an integrated marketing strategy that conveys the quality of the people, programs and discoveries that make up one of this nation’s premier land-grant universities,” de Graffenreid said in a news release. “Everyone I have met cares deeply about the institution, and I look forward to joining the Mizzou family.”
De Graffenreid received a bachelor’s degree in history from Indiana University, a master’s degree in Russian and Soviet history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School.
Both of de Graffenreid’s parents, R.E. Gene and Nancy Kirkham Forderhase, are MU grads.
Prior to her current role at Brandeis University, de Graffenreid worked in various positions in the technology industry, including one at the Hewlett-Packard Corporation.
Joan Gabel, dean of the Trulaske College of Business who also served as chair of the search committee for the post, said she believes de Graffenreid’s experience, both in an AAU member university and in the private sector, will benefit MU.
“Along with her AAU experience and Missouri roots, she has a strong portfolio of marketing and communication skills that can take our very strong team to the next level,” Gabel said in the release.
De Graffenreid’s new position was initially created by Loftin as the assistant to the chancellor for university affairs, a position which MU News Bureau Executive Director Mary Jo Banken has served in the interim since February.
Banken will return to her former position in the News Bureau once de Graffenreid starts in the fall.