Iowa State University


Inside Iowa State
Jan. 10, 1997

Six finalists named for university relations director

by Steve Jones
Six finalists have been named in a search for the director of university relations. The finalists are: John Anderson, interim director of university relations, Iowa State; John Camper, associate chancellor for public affairs, University of Illinois at Chicago; Thomas Hutton, director, office of university relations, University of Kansas, Lawrence; Barry Johnson, assistant vice president, office of public relations, Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio; John McCarroll, manager and coordinator of media relations and financial communications, MidAmerican Energy Co., Des Moines; and Rhonda Rathje, director of public affairs planning and customer communications, GTE Telephone Operations, Irving, Texas.

The director of university relations will oversee three ISU communications departments: internal communications, news service and photo service. The director also acts as ISU's primary spokesperson with the news media.

The new director will succeed Cherryl Jensen, who left ISU in June 1994.

The finalists will visit ISU during the coming weeks to interview and meet with several university groups. Candidates also will meet with members of the university community and the public during open forums.


Updated forum schedule

4 p.m., Memorial Union Gold Room


John Anderson has been at Iowa State since 1980. He has been interim director of university relations since 1994 and from 1989 to 1990, and he has been an associate director of university relations since 1986. Anderson also was news bureau editor and served as interim director of WOI Radio, photo service and office of publications. Prior to coming to ISU, he was a newspaper editor in Iowa. He received a B.S. in journalism from Iowa State (1972).

John Camper has been associate chancellor for public affairs at the University of Illinois at Chicago since 1990. Previously, he worked as a reporter for the Chicago Tribune, Detroit News and other newspapers. He also was an editorial writer for the Chicago Sun-Times. Camper received a B.A. in English from Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio.

Thomas Hutton has been at the University of Kansas since 1990. He has been director of university relations since 1993, after serving as acting director and associate director. He also worked as a newspaper publisher and a reporter in Kansas. Hutton received a B.S. in journalism from the University of Kansas.

Barry Johnson has been assistant vice president, office of public relations, at Wright State University since 1995. Previously, he was director of the office of public affairs, Tennessee Tech University, Cookeville, and manager of media relations and publications, Nashville State Technical Institute,Tennessee. Johnson received a B.S. in communication from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (1980), an M.B.A. from Tennessee State University, Nashville (1989), and an Ed.S. from Tennessee Tech University (1995).

John McCarroll has been manager and coordinator of media relations and financial communications for MidAmerican Energy Co. since 1989. Previously, he was director of communications for the Iowa Association of Business and Industry, Des Moines, and an administrative assistant and press secretary to former Gov. Robert Ray. He also worked as a radio and newspaper reporter. McCarroll received a B.S. in journalism from the University of Missouri, Columbia (1972).

Rhonda Rathje has worked at GTE since 1980. She has been director of public affairs planning and customer communications since 1995. Her previous GTE positions include manager-customer communications, state director-public affairs and area director-communications. Rathje received a B.A. in journalism and mass communication and in speech from Iowa State (1980) and an M.A. in interdisciplinary studies from the University of Texas at Dallas (1988).

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Revised 1/8/97