Master's in Public Relations & Corporate Communications
Erin Hennessy

Erin A. Hennessy is vice president at TVP Communications, a national public relations agency focused on higher education. She brings to the agency more than 20 years of communications experience and expertise in the areas of higher education policy, communication strategy, media outreach, crisis communication, and new media. Most recently, Hennessy served as assistant vice president for Public Affairs and Publishing at the American Council on Education (ACE), the nation’s most visible and influential higher education association. In this role, she served as a trusted advisor to the Council’s senior leadership, crafting strategic communications plans to promote and position ACE in the public sphere. She developed and implemented the Council’s media and public relations strategy, helped strengthen ACE’s brand through direction of its graphic identity, and supervised the editing and layout of all Council publications, including the member magazine, The Presidency. Prior to joining ACE in 2007, Hennessy served as press secretary for U.S. Rep. Rodney P. Frelinghuysen (R-NJ), a member of the House Appropriations Committee. She worked closely with legislative and district staff to communicate the member’s priorities and respond to media requests and constituent concerns. She also directed a comprehensive redesign of the congressman’s website. Previously, Hennessy spent more than five years as deputy chief of staff to two presidents of Drew University (NJ), Hon. Thomas H. Kean and Robert Weisbuch. She assisted the president and his cabinet in the day-to-day and long-term administration of the university, including the university’s response to the attacks of September 11, 2001, President Kean’s appointment to chair the 9/11 Commission, and the presidential transition following Kean’s retirement. She also held positions in the New Jersey Governor’s Office during the administration of Christine Todd Whitman. Hennessy is a member of the Education Writers Association’s Community Advisory Board. She holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Drew University and a master’s degree in public communication from American University (DC).