VICE PRESIDENT FOR UNIVERSITY RELATIONS NAMED
COLUMBUS -- Lee C. Tashjian Jr., the man who made DuPont's "Better Things for Better Living" slogan a national catch phrase and currently vice president for communications and public affairs at Atlantic Richfield Co., is Ohio State University President William E. Kirwan's choice to fill the newly created position of vice president for university relations.
Kirwan announced today (5/25) that he will nominate Tashjian for the position at the June 4 meeting of the university's Board of Trustees. Pending board approval, the appointment will be effective July 1.
Tashjian, 53, will be Ohio State's chief executive for public relations, communications and marketing, responsible for developing, implementing and coordinating the university's marketing and communications strategies.
"Lee Tashjian has nearly 30 years experience in corporate marketing and communications with some of the biggest companies in America," Kirwan said. "More important, though, he has the background and personal skills for effective leadership, along with a strong passion for Ohio State and a commitment to helping the university position and support its high academic goals and aspirations."
A native of Wilmington, Del., Tashjian earned a bachelor's degree in political science from Ohio State in 1968. After graduating, he served two years in the U.S. Army as a combat platoon leader and battalion logistics officer in Vietnam. He then joined the Ohio Department of Transportation as a staff writer, was promoted after a year to associate director and department spokesman, and began graduate studies at Ohio State.
In 1975, Tashjian was hired by International Harvester in Indianapolis as public relations manager for its truck division. After six years of increasing responsibility with IH, Tashjian moved to the DuPont Corp. in Wilmington, Del., where he spent the next 15 years, rising from public affairs consultant to vice president for public affairs and finally executive assistant to the president. At DuPont, he handled nearly every aspect of communications, including corporate branding, investor relations, issues and crisis management, and internal communications.
In 1995, he left DuPont to become vice president for corporate relations at the Fluor Corp. in Irvine, Calif. After two years, he was recruited to Atlantic Richfield (ARCO) in Los Angeles as vice president for communications and public affairs, where he is responsible for corporate advertising, media relations, financial communications, employee communications, executive speechwriting, community affairs and corporate philanthropy. He manages a staff of 20 professionals and a budget of $40 million. Among Tashjian's accomplishments at ARCO are leadership of communications to transform the corporate culture, development of a corporate branding program, and restructuring of the employee communications.
Tashjian met his wife, Victoria, while they were both students at Ohio State. She received a bachelor's degree in 1972 and a master's degree in 1975, both in education. She owns an executive development consulting business. They have two children.
At Ohio State, Tashjian will manage a central staff of more than 40 people and will partner with communications offices across the university. He will coordinate internal and external institutional marketing and communications activities for the university, and will be responsible for positioning the university to its key audiences and informing its publics about the benefits Ohio State offers and the services it provides.
Tashjian will report directly to the president, have a collaborative relationship with the executive vice president and provost, and be a member of the president's Planning Cabinet.
Tashjian's appointment culminates a national search that attracted nearly 250 applicants and nominations. The position of vice president for university relations was created as part of an administrative restructuring announced by Kirwan last November. A committee chaired by Jerry May, vice president for development, conducted the search.
Contact: Jerry May, vice president for development and chair of the search committee, (614) 292-2970