Paula Byron has been named director of marketing and communications for Virginia Tech’s College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences.

In her new position, Byron will lead the internal and external communications, media relations, and marketing programs for the college’s 12 academic-side departments and programs – the Alliance for Social, Political, Ethical, and Cultural Thought, also known as ASPECTApparel, Housing, and Resource ManagementCommunicationEnglishForeign Languages and LiteraturesHistoryHuman DevelopmentPhilosophyPolitical Science and International StudiesReligion and CultureScience and Technology in Society; and Sociology – as well as the School of Education, the School of Performing Arts, and the university’s three Reserve Officer Training Corps programs.

“Paula brings a strong combination of skills as a professional communicator and personal knowledge of our disciplines to the college at this important moment of transition,” said Dean Elizabeth Spiller. “I am confident that she will do a wonderful job capturing the human vitality, research excellence, and transformative educational experiences that define our programs in the arts, humanities, and human and social sciences at Virginia Tech.”

Byron previously was director of communications for both the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute in Roanoke. There she helped build the brand of both startup institutions.

Before joining Virginia Tech in 2011, Byron edited Harvard Medical School’s magazine for a dozen years. During that time, the magazine won more than 30 national awards for editorial excellence and was named a finalist for the National Magazine Award in General Excellence.

Prior to her editorship, Byron held several positions at the Harvard School of Public Health, including director of communications at the Harvard AIDS Institute and senior writer/editor in the Office of the Dean.

Byron holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Williams College and a master’s degree in Asian Studies from the University of Michigan.

Dedicated to its motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), Virginia Tech takes a hands-on, engaging approach to education, preparing scholars to be leaders in their fields and communities. As the commonwealth’s most comprehensive university and its leading research institution, Virginia Tech offers 240 undergraduate and graduate degree programs to more than 31,000 students and manages a research portfolio of $513 million. The university fulfills its land-grant mission of transforming knowledge to practice through technological leadership and by fueling economic growth and job creation locally, regionally, and across Virginia.

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