Appointment of Amon Rappaport as Senior Associate Vice President for Communications and Chief Communications Officer

July 15, 2020

I am pleased to announce that following a national search, Amon Rappaport has been appointed as Cal Poly Pomona’s Senior Associate Vice President for Communications and Chief Communications Officer. In this leadership role, Mr. Rappaport assumes an existing MPP position that was redesigned and elevated as a result of a comprehensive assessment of our communications infrastructure and the increasing importance of communications to the strategic advancement of the university. He will assume his duties effective July 20.

In this role, Mr. Rappaport serves as Cal Poly Pomona’s senior communications leader and provides strategic direction over all aspects of our communications efforts, including marketing, advertising, media relations, and executive communications. Likewise, he will cultivate and lead our talented team in the Office of Strategic Communications in advancing the university’s brand and expanding a compelling narrative about the significant education, scholarship, research, and public service offered by Cal Poly Pomona. As the senior spokesperson for our campus, he will represent Cal Poly Pomona to news media and also oversee crisis and emergency communications.

Mr. Rappaport brings to Cal Poly Pomona more than 20 years’ experience in senior marketing and communications roles with a particularly distinguished record of working with purpose-driven organizations involved in serving youth, public health, and social justice. An expert in brand building and social marketing, his resume includes successful campaigns with community colleges in the San Diego region, Best Buy’s philanthropic work preparing underserved youth for careers in technology, and the nationally recognized anti-tobacco “truth” campaign.

With the ongoing and exponential advances in how people connect and communicate and the ubiquitous rise of social media, telling the Cal Poly Pomona story in innovative and impactful ways has never been more important. Recruiting Mr. Rappaport to our University represents a critical step in this venture. Likewise, as part of a carefully considered reorganization of our campus-wide communications efforts, oversight of the Office of Strategic Communications has recently moved from University Advancement to the Office of the President, as of July 1. This change reflects the broadened vision of our communications initiatives and the role they play in attracting and recruiting students, building a shared sense of community among our campus, and broadcasting the accomplishments of our faculty. To facilitate this endeavor, Mr. Rappaport will report to my Chief of Staff, Nicole Hawkes, and serve as a member of my Cabinet.

On behalf of the entire campus community, I want to thank all those who participated in and contributed their insights into the search process. I especially thank the members of the search committee for their time and commitment. The search committee membership was:

Nicole Hawkes, Co-Chair, Chief of Staff, Office of the President
Dan Montplaisir, Co-Chair, Vice President, University Advancement
Stephanie Abraham, Staff, Strategic Communications
Trevor Henderson, Staff, MediaVision
Dario Robinson, Staff, University Police Department
Erik Rolland, Dean, College of Business
Sara Langford, Faculty, College of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences
Angel Perez, Student, ASI Senator
Zahra Sotoudeh, Faculty, College of Engineering
Don St. Hilaire, Faculty, Collins College of Hospitality Management

Please join me in welcoming Mr. Rappaport to Cal Poly Pomona. I continue to be grateful for our community’s ongoing commitment to Cal Poly Pomona, especially during a time so defined by extraordinary circumstances. Your initiative and perseverance are why our campus is successful in achieving our academic mission and why we have such a powerful story of student success and economic mobility to share across California and the world.