Patrick Gibbons, who leads communications for the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, is slated to move to the University of Notre Dame as executive director of academic communications next month.

Patrick GibbonsPatrick Gibbons

Gibbons' appointment comes after a national search. ND Provost Thomas Burish said Gibbons was the "overwhelming choice" of a search committee and praised the veteran communicator's strategic and tactical experience in higher education, government and the non-profit sector.

Gibbons, a former PAO in the US Marine Corps, directed communications for the Arizona Dept. of Environmental Quality before a stint as VP of communications for the Research Triangle Institute.

He moved to Johns Hopkins in 2013.

Gibbons takes up the post on April 24.