Emory Welcomes New Senior Leader
Photo courtesy UT Arlington
Jerry Lewis joined Emory University on September 1 as senior vice president for communications and public affairs.
Lewis served for the past seven years as vice president for communications at the University of Texas at Arlington and previously was vice president for communications at the University of Miami. He brings almost three decades of experience in higher education strategic communications to Emory.
“Jerry Lewis has done it all in university communications and has done it superbly well,” says Emory President James Wagner. “He knows firsthand the distinctive contours of a major research university with an academic health sciences and health care center. He is a proven team builder who values and fosters the success of colleagues and staff. And he is a thoughtful person with a vision for how to tell the Emory story effectively to our broad range of constituencies.”
While at UT Arlington, Lewis developed a robust, integrated program that brought together all facets of strategic messaging, media relations, marketing, multimedia, print and online communications, social media, issues management, and institutional identity. He also was responsible for community engagement and developing priorities for strengthening government and civic relationships.
Prior to that, Lewis served for twenty years in leadership positions at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida, including chief communications officer at the Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, and ultimately vice president and chief communications officer for the university. He also was founding editor of the university’s alumni magazine, Miami Magazine.
“Emory has earned its place among the upper echelon of the nation’s most prestigious universities. It’s a venerable brand with an amazing story to tell,” says Lewis. “I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to help leverage Emory’s significant strengths to further advance its reputation, nurture recognition, and engender support among its most important audiences.”
Lewis is responsible for the effective coordination of communications, government relations, and community engagement, both locally and nationally.
A native of Virginia, Lewis earned a bachelor’s degree in communications at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond.
Under his leadership, the communications teams at Miami and UT Arlington received more than three hundred awards from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education, the American Marketing Association, the Association of American Medical Colleges, and other professional organizations.
