Johnson Tapped as CSUSB's Associate Vice President of Strategic Communication

Longtime communications professional Dave Johnson has been named associate vice president for strategic communication at Cal State San Bernardino, as announced earlier today by the university. He began his duties May 11 and is charged with realigning the Office of Public Affairs, Creative Services and Photography/Videography into a unified Office of Strategic Communication. In addition to administrative duties, Johnson will serve as chief media contact for CSUSB. Johnson comes to CSUSB with 27 years of public relations and marketing experience after serving for the past five years as the director of sales, marketing, and public relations for the Cleveland Convention Center and the Global Center for Health Innovation. In Cleveland, Johnson implemented comprehensive sales, communications and marketing plan, and served as the primary media contact for the facility. During the past year, his sales team more than tripled the contracted bookings in the facility, including the 2016 Republican National Convention. Johnson was honored with the 2014 Distinguished Marketing and Sales Award from the Sales and Marketing Executives of Cleveland and was an American Advertising Federation-Cleveland ADDY award finalist for the development of the facility websites. On a national level, his Global Center and Convention Center rebranding project “Building Two Brands from the Ground Up” was a Holmes Report 2014 SABRE Award finalist, competing alongside internationally known brands such as Hertz, Ford Motor Company, Carnival Cruise Lines and Unilever. Johnson also coordinated the highly successful SBE diversity and inclusion effort during construction of the $465 million facility. He served in a similar role for Cuyahoga County on the $272 million Hilton Cleveland Downtown Hotel project. Johnson was also director of public relations for The Merchandise Mart in Chicago. Prior to his Cleveland assignment, Johnson spent 22 years with the University of Illinois, including 17 years with the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics and five years as assistant dean for communications at the College of Law. A veteran broadcaster, Johnson was the executive producer of the 65-station Illini Sports Radio Network and has been a producer and associate producer for ABC, NBC, ESPN, SportsChannel Ohio and Bud Sports, including Cincinnati Reds baseball, the U.S. Olympic Festival, and ABC’s “Baseball Night in America.” Set in the foothills of the beautiful San Bernardino Mountains, CSUSB is a preeminent center of intellectual and cultural activity in inland Southern California. Celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2015, CSUSB serves more than 20,000 students each year and graduates about 4,000 students annually. CSUSB is listed among the best colleges and universities in the western United States, according to The Princeton Review, Forbes and U.S. News and World Report.