Announcing Lafayette’s next Vice President for Communications and Marketing
Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff,
I am excited to share with you that Kristen Daily will be joining Lafayette as our new Vice President for Communications and Marketing. Kristen brings to the role more than two decades of experience and leadership in higher education. We are thrilled to welcome her to Lafayette and look forward to her officially joining the College August 17, 2026.
Kristen comes to us following a national search that attracted outstanding candidates from across the country. Throughout the search process, she stood out from a strong pool with extensive experience that prepared her well to provide vision, leadership, and direction for marketing and communications strategies and programs that align with and propel the College’s mission and priorities.
Kristen is an award-winning senior communications executive with demonstrated success in building high-performing teams and leading communications operations. She is skilled at turning complex ideas into compelling stories that resonate across the many audiences a college seeks to reach. Known for a collaborative, people-first leadership style, she is eager to learn from and build on the strong work already underway in our Communications Division.
Most recently, Kristen served as Associate Vice President for Strategic Communications and Public Relations at Stevens Institute of Technology, where, as a senior adviser to the president and cabinet, she guided messaging strategy, reputation management, media engagement, and crisis communications. She partnered closely with leaders across the institution to align communications with the university’s mission and strategic goals.
Kristen led an integrated communications team responsible for strategic storytelling, executive communications, media relations, social media, and multimedia production, strengthening the university’s profile and supporting its institutional priorities.
Prior to Stevens, Kristen held communications leadership roles at Drew University, her alma mater, where she earned a B.A. in English and theater arts. She ultimately served as Executive Director for Communications and Marketing, reporting to the president as the university’s senior communications leader. She began her career in higher education at Rutgers University, where she advanced through several roles within University Relations.
Kristen’s work has earned professional recognition at the institutional, state, and national levels, including honors from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), Telly Awards, Collegiate Advertising Awards, and Educational Advertising Awards.
Raised in Pennsylvania and having spent much of her professional life in neighboring New Jersey, Kristen is especially excited to return to the Keystone State and become part of the Lafayette community.
I extend my sincere gratitude to the members of our search committee for their diligent efforts on this comprehensive search: Laura McGrane and Scott Morse, co-chairs, and Chip Bergh ’79, Heather Hartner, Marta Kepka, Shelby Maguire, Meghan Masto, Kristen Sanford, Kate Santoro, Sue Sladen, Walter Snipes, and John Troxell.
Please join me in welcoming Kristen and her family to the College.
On Lafayette!
President Nicole Hurd