Pearson to be communications VP
By Allyson Bennett, The Dartmouth Staff
Published on Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Diana Pearson
Diana Pearson will assume the position of Dartmouth's vice president for communications on March 8, the College announced in a press release Tuesday. She will replace Sheila Culbert, who has served as interim vice president for communications for the past year.
Pearson has never worked for an academic institution. She has previously served as senior vice president for corporate communications and media relations at Martha Stewert Media Living Omnimedia, as director of public affairs for Time Magazine and as director of communications for Newsweek Magazine. She was also a journalist for Gannet Newspapers and the Associated Press.
Pearson's responsibilities as vice president will include developing and implementing Dartmouth's overall communications strategies, overseeing the College's media relations and managing the Office of Public Affairs. The OPA produces all College publications and provides information about the College to the media.
"[My role is] to articulate Dartmouth's strengths and support the efforts of everyone at the College," Pearson said.
Pearson said she is enthusiastic about her new role at the College.
"I very much love media, and I'll still be working in media, but part of why I stayed with Time and Newsweek for over 20 years is because of the community of experts within those magazines who truly know their subjects and love talking about ideas," Pearson said. "I feel that I'll be very much at home at Dartmouth and inside of an academic community because of the expertise and the approach of the journalists I've worked with."
Pearson added that she will bring creativity, knowledge of the media and contacts to Dartmouth.
Pearson said she has already visited Hanover and will continue to do so regularly until she assumes her new position. She will also read "as much material as possible" to learn about the issues, controversies and challenges the College faces.
Culbert has worked at the College since 1989 and is currently the top advisor to College President James Wright. She will leave Hanover at the end of the year to become headmaster at Loomis Chaffee, a boarding school in Connecticut. While at Dartmouth, Culbert helped to create the Ask Dartmouth website. She was also a member of the working group formed in response to a 2006 review of the administration that called for increased transparency and accountability. This group suggested the revision of the College's mission statement.