Susan Klobuchar joined UVA Engineering as Executive Director, Strategic Communications on August 1, 2023. She will be responsible for enhancing the UVA Engineering brand, leading internal and external communications strategy and execution, serving as a member of the school’s leadership team, and overseeing the day-to-day operations of the Department of Communications. In her role, she will help UVA Engineering achieve its mission of making the world a better place by creating and disseminating knowledge and by preparing engineering leaders to solve global challenges.
A storyteller at heart, Susan is a strategic marketing and communications leader with 20 years of experience in brand building, marketing strategy, integrated marketing campaign development, communications planning and execution, and public relations. She comes to UVA Engineering from the UVA Alumni Association where she served as their inaugural Chief Marketing Officer and helped modernize their brand, create innovative promotional campaigns, and raise funds for their Annual Fund and scholarships. She helped develop Retold, a year-long campaign celebrating the 50th anniversary of UVA co-education, and drove alumnae awareness and engagement through web, email, social media, and events including a day-long virtual event in fall 2020. More recently, she led campaign development and execution for the Association’s fall 2022 Living Honor campaign, in response to a request from UVA President James E. Ryan, and presented it to the Board of Visitors.
Prior to UVA, Susan spent 13 years in marketing and communications leadership roles at General Mills in Minneapolis, MN, where she supported food and content brands including Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Cheerios, and Yoplait, and led the iconic Betty Crocker Kitchens. She also built her marketing and management expertise at BreathableBaby, a juvenile products company, where she led their rebranding and contributed to their growth.
Susan is a proud Wahoo with a B.A. in English from UVA and an MBA in Marketing from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She lives in Crozet with her husband Tim, a high school teacher, as well as their three children and two dogs.