Kerstin Roan named director of communications and marketing for the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

Kerstin Roan, former director of communications and student services for the Office of Student Aid at the Pennsylvania State University, has been named director of communications and marketing for Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

In her new position, Roan will provide leadership for the development of a comprehensive integrated communications and marketing strategy for the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Virginia Cooperative Extension, and the Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station.

“I am excited about promoting the college to its multiple constituents and working with faculty and staff to accomplish this goal,” said Roan. “The college has an exciting mission in providing an environment conducive to the development of faculty, staff, and students who aspire to be global leaders in their subject areas. I am energized about moving this mission forward with the help of the excellent communications and marketing staff.”

Roan had served as the director of communications and student services for the Office of Student Aid at Penn State since 2003. In that position, she was responsible for the development and implementation of the office’s comprehensive communications plan and the creation of print and Web materials. From 2000 to 2003 she served as an associate director and from 1999 to 2000 as assistant director in the Office of Financial Aid. From 1997 to 1999 Roan was a technical writer at the Pennsylvania Transportation Institute.

Roan, a native of Germany, received her Zwischenpruefung (equivalent of a bachelor of arts degree) from Friedrich-Alexander-Universitat in Erlangen-Nurnberg, Germany, and received two master’s degrees from the University of Mississippi.

Ranked 11th in agricultural research expenditures by the National Science Foundation, Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences offers students the opportunity to learn from some of the world’s leading agricultural scientists. The college’s comprehensive curriculum gives students a balanced education that ranges from food and fiber production to economics to human health. The college is a national leader in incorporating technology, biotechnology, computer applications, and other recent scientific advances into its teaching program.

Founded in 1872 as a land-grant college, Virginia Tech has grown to become the largest university in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Today, Virginia Tech’s eight colleges are dedicated to putting knowledge to work through teaching, research, and outreach activities and to fulfilling its vision to be among the top research universities in the nation. At its 2,600-acre main campus in Blacksburg, and centers in Northern Virginia, Hampton Roads, Richmond, and Roanoke, Virginia Tech enrolls 28,000 full- and part-time undergraduate and graduate students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries in 170 academic degree programs.