Who We Are: Lisa Lapin's Biography
Lisa Lapin is the assistant vice chancellor for University Communications at the University of California, Davis, providing leadership for external and internal communications on behalf of the 30,000-student, public research university. She has held the position since 2004.
Her responsibilities include advocacy; issues management; marketing; Web and print publications; media relations; broadcast operations; faculty/staff communications; and development, alumni and parent communications.
Lapin serves as the university spokesperson to the news media. She also leads a nationally recognized media training program, conducting workshops for Council for Advancement and Support of Education, the National Science Foundation, the California Biomedical Research Association, and many academic and scientific organizations.
In 2005, Lapin was recognized with the CASE District VII Rising Star Award as the West Coast's outstanding recent advancement professional. University Communications also won regional awards for its redesign of the UC Davis Web site and the campus Annual Report.
Before being named assistant vice chancellor in 2004, Lapin served for five years as the director of the UC Davis News Service, where she was responsible for the dissemination of all news from the campus.
She has managed the campus response to numerous communications challenges, including anti-genetic engineering terrorism, animal rights protests and tragic student deaths. Under her direction, the News Service won national recognition for its crisis-management work and a new parent communication program.
Prior to joining UC Davis in 1999, Lapin spent 15 years as a journalist at daily newspapers in California including the New York Times Los Angeles bureau, the Los Angeles Times and the San Jose Mercury News, where she was part of a team that won a Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. At The Sacramento Bee, she covered higher education, the California Legislature and U.S. Senate and presidential campaigns.
At the Bee she transitioned into editing, holding posts as the assigning editor for education issues, government and social services, as well as serving as weekend editor and city editor responsible for all regional coverage.
Lisa holds a degree in print journalism from the University of Southern California.