Whitfield named UMaine chief marketing and communications officer
Following a University of Maine System-wide search, Meredith Whitfield, chief of staff to University of Maine President Joan Ferrini-Mundy, has been named UMaine chief marketing and communications officer, effective March 1.
Whitfield has been a member of the UMaine community since October 2021. Among her multiple responsibilities as chief of staff and a member of the President’s Cabinet, Whitfield has been responsible for drafting key institutional communications, advancing engagement with university constituents on and off campus, guiding and supporting strategic initiatives, and assisting in establishing UMaine’s reputation and relationship with the external community.
“I have greatly appreciated Meredith’s vision, leadership and work ethic as chief of staff, and look forward now to collaborating with her to advance the state, regional and national marketing and communications strategies of the state’s R1 research and its regional campus,” says President Ferrini-Mundy. “Her experience and talent in communications and external relations will benefit our many stakeholders.”
For more than 15 years, she has served in executive support roles, and external and government relations administration in higher education.
Prior to coming to Maine, Whitfield was deputy chief of staff and director of external relations at Western Carolina University, and special assistant for federal relations and research at Appalachian State University.
Her career includes legislative assistant experience in two congressional offices, and as an associate lobbyist. Whitfield holds an MBA from Appalachian State University.
As UMaine’s chief marketing and communications officer, Whitfield will direct the Division of Marketing and Communications, which has institutional responsibilities for both UMaine and the University of Maine at Machias. She will serve as the UMaine and UMaine Machias public information officer and spokesperson, and the primary communications liaison with the University of Maine System.