Sandra Genelius, who held top corporate communications posts at Sony Corp. of America and CBS News, has been named chief communications officer for Amherst College, following a national search.

Sandra GeneliusSandra Genelius

Genelius takes over for Pete Mackey, who stepped down last August. She leads PA, marketing, major events and other aspects of communications.

Genelius takes the reins on March 1 at the private liberal arts college of 2,000 in Amherst, Mass.

She stepped down after six years at Sony in 2014. That followed 14 years at CBS News, where she rose to VP of communications. She stated out with CBS Sports, handling communications and Olympics publicity.