The Communications Office at Darlington School has undergone several staff changes this summer, including the hire of Dr. C. Bruce Watterson, associate vice president for public relations, to be responsible for public relations, communications, marketing and publications.
For the past five years, Watterson has served Shorter College as vice president of institutional relations. He brings 15 years of experience as a public relations officer and has served as director of the Office of Public Affairs for Henderson University and as district public relations editor for North Little Rock Public Schools. Watterson holds a Master of Arts in news-editorial journalism and public relations from the University of Arkansas and a Bachelor of Arts in English from Hendrix College.
“I am very pleased that someone of Bruce’s qualifications and experience will be leading Darlington’s public relations efforts,” Bob Rogers, Darlington’s vice president for finance, said. “We are particularly proud of his record of service and volunteer leadership in the Rome community.”
Watterson is an accomplished seminar leader. He has served as a consultant in telecommunications, marketing, development and fundraising, alumni relations and admissions, publications, management and motivation, graphic design and trends in publications. He is also a contributing editor/author and avid journalist.
Professionally active in the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) District III, he has coordinated judging of the group’s photographic and Web site contests for the past two years. A former CASE IV board member, Watterson was recently named Judging Standards and Practices chair for the graduate school of journalism at Columbia University, NYC. As chair of the Board of Judges of Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA), he supervises the Crown competition for newspapers, magazines and yearbooks on both the college and secondary levels nationwide. In March, a CD-ROM co-edited by Watterson and detailing hundreds of award-winning entries in the 2004 competition was distributed to the CSPA membership at their annual spring meeting in New York City.
Watterson has been awarded the Medal of Merit from the Journalism Education Association, the Pioneer Award from the Associated Collegiate Press, the Gold Key from Columbia University and was inducted into the Journalism Hall of Fame in the early 1990s. A workshop clinician for publication writing and design, he has conducted seminars in 43 states and seven countries internationally. In 1999 and 2001, he was a member of the instructional team of the Independent Journalism Foundation, traveling to Eastern Europe, Russia and Asia. The teaching opportunity, co-sponsored by the George Soros Foundation and the New York Times Foundation, resulted in dozens of student journalists being trained in the operation of the free press.
Locally, Watterson is a member of the Board of the Seven Hills Rome Rotary, the American Red Cross (Coosa Valley Chapter), the Community Info-Line and the Economic Development Committee for the Greater Rome Chamber of Commerce, and served two terms as chair of High School Leadership Rome.
Also new to the Communications staff is Tannika King, director of media relations, who served in the same capacity at Shorter College for two years under Watterson's leadership. A 2002 graduate of Berry College, King holds a Bachelor of Arts in communication.
Additionally, longtime member of the Communications Office Laure Clemons will have a title change from publications manager to director of creative design.
Watterson is currently in the process of interviewing candidates for a fourth position that will focus on marketing and advertising.
“The Communications Office is designed to be a service unit,” Watterson said. “We will be operating in a lateral management style. Each one of us is eager to promote Darlington School and its programs and people. It is easy to work in an environment that is stimulating, and it is easy to promote an entity that places a premium on academics and nurturing each student.”
The Communications Office will be part of the School’s newly formed Office of Institutional Advancement headed by Joe Montgomery.
