The University of Virginia Library is very pleased to announce the hire of Elyse Girard as the Library’s new Director of Communications. She will report to Dean of Libraries John Unsworth and will be a member of the Library’s senior leadership team.

Elyse Girard
-photo by Tom Daly

Girard currently manages all communications for the University of Virginia’s Bicentennial. She has been responsible for directing a wide-variety of communications, marketing, and project management operations that touched multiple parts of the President’s Office and University Advancement. Throughout her time at UVA, Girard has supported over 115 events, secured national media attention for the University, won two international design awards and produced a documentary film that debuted at the Virginia Film Festival.

A graduate of Old Dominion University and the Maryland Institute College of Art, Girard developed communication strategies for the City of Norfolk prior to coming to the University of Virginia. In that role, her responsibilities included communications for the Norfolk Public Library and its branches, including the grand opening of Slover Library.

“I’m thrilled to join the University of Virginia Library to advance the Library’s strategic communications,” said Girard. “The Library has many exciting projects taking place and I’m thankful to get the opportunity to contribute to its mission in supporting the University.”

Girard will work with staff in the Library’s Advancement and UX units to form a new Communications unit that will cover not only Advancement communications but also communications with faculty and students, and internal Library communications as well. She will start in the Library on August 5th, 2019.

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Welcome, Elyse!