<p>Marisa Quinn, currently assistant to the president at Brown University, has been named vice president for public affairs and University relations. Quinn will begin her duties Aug. 1, 2008, succeeding Michael Chapman.</p>

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Brown President Ruth J. Simmons announced today that Marisa Quinn, currently assistant to the president, has been named vice president for public affairs and University relations. Quinn, who is currently a member of the President’s Cabinet and the Executive Committee, will begin her duties Aug. 1, 2008, succeeding Michael Chapman.

“It would be difficult to imagine anyone better suited by education, knowledge, temperament and direct experience to the role of vice president for public affairs and University relations,” Simmons said in an e-mail message to the campus community. “Marisa’s knowledge of national and international politics, community issues, communications practices, government relations and the Brown community will enable her to lead the PAUR office in building on their exceptional work.”

The Office of Public Affairs and University Relations (PAUR) is responsible for the University’s communications with most of its external constituencies. Its 35 full- and part-time employees:

  • manage the University’s relationships with local, national and international news media;
  • write, edit and publish the Brown Alumni Magazine;
  • serve as the University’s liaison with city, state and federal elected officials and agencies, as well as with neighborhood and community organizations;
  • maintain the University’s top-level Web pages and provide Web support for sites throughout campus;
  • plan and execute most of the University’s public events, including Commencement, Parents Weekend, and a variety of public lectures;
  • write and edit the University’s online newspaper, Today at Brown;
  • provide editorial, photographic, and graphic design services to select University offices.

The vice president for PAUR is the University’s principal spokesperson.

Marisa Quinn

Quinn, a graduate of the University of Rhode Island (B.A., political science, 1986), earned her master’s degree from the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University in 1991. Before coming to Brown, she served as legislative aide to Sen. Claiborne Pell on the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Education, Arts, and the Humanities; policy advisor to New Jersey Gov. Jim Florio; chief of communications and public information at the Rhode Island Department of Elementary and Secondary Education; and public affairs specialist at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Quinn came to Brown in 1999, serving as director of community and government relations in PAUR. She joined the president’s staff in 2003, where she undertook a range of activities and special projects. Among other responsibilities, she managed the University’s response to Hurricane Katrina, coordinated projects in the Providence public schools, and assisted with a number of student initiatives, campus conferences, and major events involving the president. Her responsibilities included overall management of the Office of the President and coordination of Cabinet and Executive Committee meetings.

“It is an exciting time to be at Brown,” said Quinn, “and I look forward to the opportunity of working with PAUR to build on their good work, and to engage the University community in promoting Brown’s excellence regionally, nationally and internationally.”