Heather Richardson
Vice President Strategic Communications and Marketing
Biography
Heather Richardson is the Vice President for Strategic Communications and Marketing at West Virginia University, where she leads a team of marketers, storytellers, brand strategists, creators and public affairs specialists to elevate the University’s brand and reputation in alignment with the vision of WVU’s 27th President Michael T. Benson.
A proud Mountaineer and alumna, Richardson returned home to WVU in 2015 from the private sector and has invested the last decade of her career telling the story of the University that was instrumental in shaping her own story. She spent four years in the central marketing and communications unit, where she bolstered WVU’s reputation through public relations efforts and storytelling, and drove marketing strategy for university-wide campaigns across recruitment, retention and fundraising priorities.
In 2019, Richardson assumed leadership of the communications and marketing operations in the John Chambers College of Business and Economics as Assistant Dean for Strategic Communications. During her six years in the role, she refocused the communications strategy in WVU’s business school to align with the revenue-driving aspects of College. She was a champion of rallying marketing efforts around the business student mission through building audience-based, streamlined communications and campaigns that resulted in increased enrollment and engagement for undergraduate and graduate populations. Richardson and her team cultivated and executed an innovative vision to build momentum with alumni and students for Reynolds Hall, the futuristic new learning complex for WVU’s business school that opened in 2022.
Prior to her time in higher education, she spent five years working for a public relations agency focused on community engagement, crisis communications, media training and building client communications strategies for Fortune 500 industrial companies. She was also a correspondent for West Virginia’s weekly business journal.
Richardson earned her Bachelor’s of Science in Journalism and dual master’s degrees in Business Administration and Public Administration from WVU. She was named to West Virginia’s Generation Next 40 under 40 list, and has been a speaker and thought leader on business school communications strategy for the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, the accreditation organization for business schools.
She is the proud daughter of a WVU School of Nursing alumna, and grew up cheering on the Mountaineers with her mom. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, boating on Cheat Lake, cooking, keeping up with her spirited Sheltie, Duke, and spending time with family and longtime friends, many of whom she met during her time as a student at WVU.
Education
- B.S., Journalism, West Virginia University
- M.B.A., West Virginia University
- M.P.A., West Virginia University