UPHS Public Affairs Chief: Ms. Harmon
Rebecca Harmon has been
appointed Chief Public Affairs Officer for the Health System. The appointment
made by Dr. Robert D. Martin, interim CEO and COO of the University of Pennsylvania
Health System, was effective December 1.
In her new position, Ms. Harmon is responsible for the development and direction of all aspects of strategic communications that promote and enhance the patient care, educational, and research missions of the Health System. She will oversee media-relations programs and initiatives designed to highlight Penn's many significant scientific and clinical advances. She will also oversee the development and implementation of internal communications--including such in-house produced, award-winning publications as Penn Medicine, PennPulse, and HUPdate. Ms. Harmon will be responsible for the Health System's community affairs programs and projects. She has been Director of Media Relations in the Health System's Department of Public Affairs for the last seven years.
Ms. Harmon joined the Health System 14 years ago, and during that time, has held increasingly responsible positions in the Department of Public Affairs--in both the publications and media-relations divisions. Prior to coming to Penn, she worked at Brigham & Women's Hospital in Boston and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia. She also worked as an editor/writer for Baltimore magazine.
Ms. Harmon earned her B.S. in Business Management at Rosemont College
and is currently completing her master's degree in professional communication
at La Salle University. She is a member of many professional organizations
and societies, including the Public Relations Society of America, the Group
on Institutional Advancement of the Associaton of American Medical Colleges,
the Nataional Association of Science Writers, and the American Medical Writers
Association.
Almanac, Vol. 47, No. 18, January 16, 2001