Julia Ferrante has been appointed as the next vice president for communications and marketing at Middlebury College, effective December 8. The announcement was made by President Ian Baucom in an email to the campus community.
Ferrante has served as interim vice president since July, guiding the communications and marketing teams through a period of significant activity and transition. In her new position, she will provide strategic direction and counsel for all of Middlebury’s communications and marketing work. She will also serve as a member of the Senior Leadership Group, reporting to Sue Ritter, chief of staff to the president.
Her responsibilities include overseeing media relations, crisis and issues management, thought leadership, internal communications, digital marketing, advertising, social media, content creation, and creative services. Ferrante succeeds David Gibson in this role.
Ferrante joined Middlebury in June 2020 as associate vice president for public affairs. She played a key role in leading COVID-19 related communications during remote and hybrid learning periods. Over the past five months as interim vice president, she managed communications on several complex projects such as the wind down of programs at the Middlebury Institute in Monterey, the presidential inauguration, strategic planning initiatives, launching presidential social media accounts, and crisis communications. She also developed a plan to realign resources within communications and marketing to better support institutional priorities like undergraduate admissions.
With 17 years of experience at national liberal arts colleges prior to joining Middlebury, Ferrante previously worked as executive director of communications and marketing at Connecticut College. There she led teams responsible for marketing strategy across multiple platforms including admissions communication and athletics social media.
She also held positions at Mount Holyoke College where she managed news coverage around its transgender admissions policy change; Bucknell University; and Franklin & Marshall College where she served as director of media relations.
Ferrante is a graduate of the University of New Hampshire with a bachelor’s degree in history. Before transitioning into higher education administration, she spent 15 years working in journalism—including roles with The Tampa Tribune and The Ledger—covering topics such as government affairs, higher education, health care systems, criminal courts, religion issues, Native American tribes and casinos.
President Baucom stated: “Julia has proven time and again to be a highly skilled and collaborative leader with a sophisticated understanding of Middlebury, the challenging higher education landscape, and opportunities to adapt and excel in our current times. We are grateful to have someone of her caliber and blend of experience on our leadership team.”
He concluded: “Please join me in congratulating Julia in this new role.”