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Kenyon CollegePublic Affairs Staff

presleys@kenyon.edu

As the associate vice president for college relations and public affairs at Kenyon, Shawn Presley works with broadcast, electronic, and print media to increase the visibility of the College. In addition, he is the editor of the Alumni Bulletin.

A graduate of Ouachita University, Shawn holds a master's degree from the University of Missouri (MU) School of Journalism. Upon receiving his master's degree in 1990, he began his public relations career working for Investigative Reporters and Editors, which is headquartered at MU. Shawn has also worked at Central College as the coordinator of news services. Prior to joining Kenyon's public affairs office in 1997, he worked in university news services at the University of Iowa.

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andrewsmt@kenyon.edu

As assistant sports information director, Mike Andrews helps promote the College's twenty-two athletic programs. He assists in all aspects of the sports information department including producing media guides, brochures, and game programs, updating Kenyon's athletics website, keeping statistics at home games, and writing game summaries. Additionally, Mike coordinates the broadcasters used for live audio and video streaming of select home events and occasionally calls the games himself.

Mike graduated from Ashland University in 2002 with degrees in sport communication and electronic media production and has more than ten years of professional broadcasting experience. While working as news and sports director at WMVO radio in nearby Mount Vernon, he helped establish the College's webcasting program in 2005 before being hired as assistant sports information director in 2007. Mike lives in Mount Vernon with his wife, Leah.

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blumenthala@kenyon.edu

As director of admissions communications, Amy Blumenthal works closely with the admissions office to write, edit, and produce a wide range of print and electronic publications, including the Kenyon Prospectus. She also contributes writing and editing to the campus Web site, the campus newsletter, and the Alumni Bulletin, for which she serves as associate editor.

Amy earned a bachelor's degree from Barnard College and a master's degree in English from Stanford University. From 1993 to 1999 she taught in the English department at Kenyon and completed two year-long stints with the Kenyon-Exeter program in England. Her work in the Office of Public Affairs began in 2000. She and her husband, Professor of English Sergei Lobanov-Rostovsky, have one daughter.

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burnsp@kenyon.edu

As director of new media, Patty Burns develops and maintains the portions of Kenyon's web site within the purview of the Office of Public Affairs. This includes, in part, admissions and financial aid, College relations, the College's online calendar, and Kenyon's home page. She also advises and assists campus users of Kenyon's web content management system.

A graduate of Davidson College, Patty holds a master's degree in English from Indiana University. Patty moved to Gambier in 2000 and joined the Office of Public Affairs in 2001. She is married to Associate Professor of Biology Wade Powell and has two children.

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daviscj@kenyon.edu

As video producer, Chris Davis documents and tells the story of the people and events at Kenyon through moving images. Chris writes, shoots, and edits video content for online distribution through various social media and other web-based channels.

After earning a bachelor's degree in mass communication from Miami University, Chris moved on to Columbia College Chicago, where he received an MFA in film. During his time in Chicago, Chris worked as an independent filmmaker, adjunct film instructor, commercial director, and also found time to serve as program coordinator within Columbia's Student Affairs Department. Chris' award-winning short films have played at festivals around the world. He resides in Granville, Ohio, with his wife Andrea and daughter Nico.

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ellism@kenyon.edu

Mark Ellis, as news director, is the Kenyon liaison with the news media. Mark is the point of contact for journalists and facilitates media access to administrators, faculty, and students. He is responsible for enhancing the public profile of the College by providing complete and accurate information about the knowledge and expertise of the Kenyon faculty and the depth and variety of its curriculum and programs. Mark also writes and edits copy for various College publications and its Web site.

Mark is a veteran journalist. He worked as a newspaper editor and reporter for more than thirty years, most of that time at the Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch, where he was city editor, assistant metro editor, Metro Desk chief, and senior reporter. He supervised breaking-news coverage and investigative projects that won several Associated Press of Ohio awards. Mark attended Miami University. He and his wife, Jan, who is a freelance artist, have three daughters.

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fitzwaterj@kenyon.edu

With two fingers on the pulse of Kenyon's social community and the other eight developing and implementing social media initiatives, Josh D. Fitzwater serves as the director of social media at Kenyon. He directs and optimizes the College's social media presence through a myriad of channels by implementing rich, engaging content focused on relationship-building, brand awareness, and meeting the needs of the College and its students.

Josh earned a bachelor's degree in public relations and political science from Otterbein University and a master's degree in marketing and communication from Franklin University. Before coming to Kenyon, he worked in higher education as a social media manger and copywriter. He has also worked as a magazine writer and musician. Josh resides in Clintonville, Ohio, with his wife Jessi and son Holden.


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Marty Fullerfullerm@kenyon.edu

As sports information director, Marty Fuller works to maintain communications between the College's athletics department and the media. He produces media guides, game programs and newsletters, updates the College's athletics Web pages, keeps in-game statistics, writes game summaries, and contributes articles to various public affairs publications. Marty also oversees the operations of the Kenyon Athletic Association (KAA), the KAA Hall of Fame, and a team of student workers that helps him keep information about the College's twenty-two sports teams readily available.

After earning a journalism degree from Bowling Green State University, Marty worked as a sports writer and sports editor at a daily Ohio newspaper. He then moved on to work as sports information director at Wilmington College before taking on his duties at Kenyon in 2001. Marty and his wife, Kirstin, who also works at the College, live in nearby Howard.

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gilsona@kenyon.edu

As associate publications director, Adam Gilson assists with the writing, editing, and layout of such publications as the Course of Study, the annual wall calendar, the Fortnightly campus newsletter, and several other forms, booklets, and brochures.

A native of Pennsylvania, Adam earned a degree in communications from Elizabethtown College. Prior to joining Kenyon's public affairs office in 2003, Adam worked as training assistant at the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association, where he was the staff liaison to a committee of district attorneys charged with the task of strengthening media and public relations among the state's law enforcement community. He also worked as a legislative reporter at State Net, a legislative reporting service in Harrisburg, and has developed several Web sites.

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laskind@kenyon.edu

Dan Laskin writes, edits, and oversees the production of publications ranging from the course catalog to the campus newsletter, Fortnightly (for which he also writes a column, "Soundings"). As deputy editor of the Alumni Bulletin, he writes articles and edits the work of both staff members and freelance writers. Dan also writes and edits for the Web site, and helps create fundraising publications for the College.

A graduate of Yale University, Dan has worked as a newspaper reporter, magazine writer and editor, technical writer, grant writer, and freelancer. Before coming to Kenyon, he was director of grants and publications at St. Mary's College of Maryland. He and his family moved to Gambier in 1989, when his wife, Professor of French Mary Jane Cowles, accepted a position at the College. Dan did freelance work for the Office of Public Affairs until becoming publications director in 1998. He and his wife have two sons.

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