The University of North Dakota will bring in Susan Balcom Walton, a communications veteran of Dow Chemical, Boise Cascade and Harley-Davidson, in a new top post overseeing public affairs.
Walton |
University president Robert Kelly said the 14,000-student public institution conducted a national search before landing on Walton, who takes the title of VP for university and public affairs on July 2.
Peter Johnson, UND's spokesman, remains executive associate VP for university relations.
Walton was one of three finalists for the position.
Walton, associate professor of PR at Brigham Young University since 2006, will handle internal and external communications, as well as government affairs for UND, based in Grand Forks. She also oversees marketing, public and media relations, visitor/alumni liaison, ceremonies and special events, media services, and community relations.
At Brigham Young, she administered the student-run PR and ad agencies, along with its daily TV news broadcast and campus newspaper, The Daily Universe. She was an assistant professor at SUNY-run Monroe Community College in New York.
On the corporate side, she led marketing comms. in Switzerland for a Dow Chemical unit and was director of corporate communications for both Boise Cascade and Harley-Davidson.
UND has made national news over the past few years for its sports nickname, the Fighting Sioux, which was deemed inappropriate by the NCAA in 2005 because of its Native American connotation. The school sued the NCAA but settled by agreeing to retire the name, but Kelley in January said UND will resume using the name despite likely NCAA sanctions.
A statewide referendum is slated for June 12 over its continued use after the state supreme court last month paved the way for a vote.