Pete Mackey named interim vice president for communications and marketing

Leading higher education communications and marketing strategist Pete Mackey, Ph.D., has been named Lafayette’s interim vice president for communications and marketing, effective immediately. 

“I am thrilled to have Pete lead the College’s Communications Division and join the senior leadership team on an interim basis,” said President Nicole Farmer Hurd. “Effective communication is critical and the College is at both an exciting and important time as we work as a community toward the College’s bicentennial and building our next chapter. I have known Pete, and of his exemplary work in this field, for many years, and look forward to what we will accomplish together in service to the College.”

Mackey is the president and senior strategist of the communications and marketing firm Mackey Strategies and has more than 30 years of experience in leadership roles at private and public institutions in the United States and Europe. He was the senior communications officer at Amherst College, Bucknell University, the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, Science Foundation Ireland, and University of South Carolina (USC). He established Mackey Strategies in 2016 to provide strategic communications and leadership services for educational and nonprofit institutions. As a consultant, he has worked with more than 45 colleges and universities across the country, including as interim head of communications at seven other institutions.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to serve the exceptional community that is Lafayette College and its visionary president,” says Mackey. “Lafayette has a powerful story to tell of impact and opportunity, and I am excited to partner with new colleagues across the campus to bring that message to the world.”

In addition to leading the Communications Division, Mackey will serve as senior counsel on communications and marketing to the president. President Hurd will be considering the best time to launch a search for a permanent vice president in the coming year.

Mackey earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English and film studies from Case Western Reserve University, graduating Phi Beta Kappa; and his Ph.D. in 20th century British literature and literary theory from USC. He is a frequent contributor to and speaker on a variety of topics related to higher education communications and marketing.