Kent State President Beverly Warren named Karen Clarke as senior vice president of strategic communications and external affairs Tuesday in a statement sent to the Kent State community.

“She is a consensus builder and has worked closely with colleges and departments to enhance communication and marketing strategies,” Warren wrote in the statement. “Karen is a strategic thinker and inspiring leader who can help us execute our Strategic Roadmap and take Kent State to bold, new heights, and is known for bringing a rigorous, research-based approach to communications and marketing campaigns to drive measurable results.”

Clarke has been in the journalism and strategic marketing fields for over 30 years. She has worked for other universities across the nation, including Temple University, University of Houston and the University of South Florida.

Since 2013, Clarke has served as vice president of strategic marketing and communications at Temple University, where The American Marketing Association named her as National Higher Education Visionary Leader in Marketing.

The role of senior vice president for strategic communications and external affairs includes helping achieve the university’s priorities of A Strategic Roadmap to a Distinctive Kent State and “responsibility for system-wide communications and marketing, corporate and professional development, and Kent State’s award-winning public radio station, WKSU,” according to Kent State’s website.

Clarke will be the first person to hold the reconstituted position as senior vice president, Warren said.

“Karen will be a key member of our senior leadership team who will lead the development and execution of a national strategic communications plan for Kent State,” Warren wrote.

Clarke will begin her new position at the university on Jan. 3, 2017.

Lydia Taylor is an administration reporter, contact her at [email protected].