Lindsey Haugh named director of marketing and communications for Virginia Tech’s Office of Research and Innovation
Lindsey A. Haugh will join Virginia Tech’s Office of Research and Innovation as the director of marketing and communications, effective March 10.
Working in an integral role in raising the profile of Virginia Tech’s national and international research portfolio, Haugh has nearly 20 years of public relations, marketing, and communication experience, including nine years at Virginia Tech.
“We’re excited to have Lindsey join our team as we look to define our marketing and communication strategy that will support several presidential initiatives that involve strengthening the breadth and depth of the research enterprise,” said Don Taylor, interim vice president of Virginia Tech’s Office of Research and Innovation. “She is highly regarded in the university’s community as a leader in her field and will be a tremendous asset as we move forward.”
In her new position, Haugh will define and implement a comprehensive, integrated communication and marketing program for the research organization around raising awareness of the university’s research strengths and provide tactics relevant to research capabilities and outcomes, faculty and partner recruiting, strategic program development, and research administration. Haugh will collaborate on these efforts with Taylor; David Guerin, the associate vice provost for communications; and university relations leadership team.
Haugh will connect with communication directors throughout the university. In addition, communicators located in university-level investment research institutes and centers will have dual-reporting lines to Haugh, in order to provide support and work together to integrate the broad communication and marketing goals.
Also a Hokie, Haugh joined the Virginia Tech’s professional community in 2010. She has advanced professionally in the College of Engineering from a marketing assistant role to director of communications, working to bolster the reputation of the university, college, and its brand, while leading external and high-level internal communications, which encompasses oversight of 12 departments and two schools.
Over the past year, Haugh has collaborated with university relations to define and implement an enrollment marketing strategy that supports Virginia Tech’s commitment to the state to double the commonwealth’s tech-talent pipeline as it relates to graduating an increased amount of computer science and computer engineering graduate students on Blacksburg and Northern Virginia sites, including the Innovation Campus.
With the college, Haugh's responsibilities have included high-level messaging that supports university initiatives and elevates the college’s brand. The messaging includes leadership communication, storytelling, communication and marketing/advertising plans, publications, creative assets, media relations, web content, and social media strategy.
Through the advancement lens, Haugh and her team elevated stories, on both digital and print platforms, by focusing on student and faculty research and impact, alumni success, student projects, and more. She has collaborated with university relations colleagues, departmental communicators, external media, and industry partners.
Haugh has served as editor-in-chief of an award-winning magazine, the Virginia Tech Engineer, in both print and digital format, that reaches alumni, friends, national engineering deans and department heads, Virginia legislative members, industry recruiters, and parents of students.
She has served on several university-level committees, including the brand steering committee, inaugural Giving Day planning committee, and Innovation Campus communications committee. Haugh is a member of the Public Relations Society of America.
Prior to Virginia Tech, she was the creative director for a national cabinetry company, splitting her time between headquarters in Roanoke, Virginia, and Myerstown, Pennsylvania, managing strategy and implementation of marketing and communications for six cabinetry lines.
Haugh graduated from Virginia Tech with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts and graphic design.
