Carly Leatherwood appointed chief of staff to OHIO President Lori Gonzalez

Ohio University President Lori Stewart Gonzalez has announced that, effective immediately, Carly Leatherwood will serve as chief of staff to the president.

Leatherwood, who had previously served as interim chief of staff to Ohio University’s 22nd President Hugh Sherman since August 2022, possesses more than 25 years of communications and marketing experience and a strong background in public service.  

“Carly is a capable, hard-working leader whose professional background and ability to build relationships across our community, region and state have uniquely positioned her to take on this important role,” President Gonzalez said. “I look forward to working alongside Carly and utilizing both her communications expertise and expansive knowledge of our University and the Athens community while serving as OHIO’s 23rd president.”

Leatherwood had most recently served as the Associate Vice President of Communications in University Communications and Marketing (UCM) before being appointed OHIO’s interim chief of staff last August. Following her transition to the President’s Office, Dan Pittman stepped in to lead the communications team as Interim Senior Director of Communications; he has now been permanently appointed to the role.

Leatherwood, who was named one of the University’s outstanding administrators in 2022, originally joined OHIO in 2016.

Before returning to her alma mater, she served as a communications consultant for the Educational Service Center of Central Ohio from 2012-16. No stranger to higher education, she previously served as marketing director at The Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center from 2011-12.

Leatherwood also has a long history of public service, with key roles at the Ohio Department of Insurance and the Ohio Department of Education between 2000-2011. She began her career as a producer and anchor at WSYX-TV and WBNS 10-TV in Columbus. 

Leatherwood holds a Bachelor of Science in Journalism from Ohio University’s E.W. Scripps School of Journalism and will complete her Master of Business Administration from OHIO’s College of Business in August of 2023.