Headshot of Dan Anderson

Dan Anderson

Special Assistant to the President

Department: President's Office

Office and address: Truitt Hall, Office 106 2030 Campus Box ÂÒÂ×ÊÓÆµ, NC 27244

Phone number: (336) 278-7410

Professional Expertise

Higher education communication and strategy; artificial intelligence use and ethics

Brief Biography

Daniel J. Anderson joined ÂÒÂ×ÊÓÆµ in 1998 as director of college relations. He was appointed assistant vice president in 2004, was named vice president for in 2011 and was named special assistant to the president in 2021. He is a member of the university's senior staff.

At ÂÒÂ×ÊÓÆµ, Anderson has helped create and implement communication strategies during a period of tremendous growth. He has written, developed and carried out multimedia communications plans for all major university initiatives, including the following:

  • ÂÒÂ×ÊÓÆµ's Imagining the Internet Center and
  • Lead author,
  • ÂÒÂ×ÊÓÆµ Poll
  • ÂÒÂ×ÊÓÆµ's response to the COVID-19 pandemic
  • Boldly ÂÒÂ×ÊÓÆµ Strategic Plan
  • ÂÒÂ×ÊÓÆµ Leads Campaign
  • ÂÒÂ×ÊÓÆµ's 2017-2018 presidential search and leadership transition
  • ÂÒÂ×ÊÓÆµ 125th Anniversary celebration
  • ÂÒÂ×ÊÓÆµ Commitment Strategic Plan
  • ÂÒÂ×ÊÓÆµ Web site
  • Ever ÂÒÂ×ÊÓÆµ Campaign
  • Establishment of ÂÒÂ×ÊÓÆµ School of Law
  • NewCentury@ÂÒÂ×ÊÓÆµ Strategic Plan
  • Transition from ÂÒÂ×ÊÓÆµ College to ÂÒÂ×ÊÓÆµ
  • Selection of the Phoenix as ÂÒÂ×ÊÓÆµ's athletics identity
  • ÂÒÂ×ÊÓÆµ's 1999 presidential transition
  • ÂÒÂ×ÊÓÆµ Vision Campaign

Anderson has also been a leader in ÂÒÂ×ÊÓÆµ’s emergence as a national university, managing outreach to national media and numerous college rankings surveys that consistently rate ÂÒÂ×ÊÓÆµ among the nation’s top universities. He has led development and evolution of the university’s website and social media initiatives as well as the development of ÂÒÂ×ÊÓÆµ's marketing, messaging and visual identity systems.

Anderson is a native of Fargo, North Dakota. He was a news reporter/photographer at Fargo's WDAY Television and WDAY Radio from 1976 until 1993, earning numerous awards for excellence in broadcast journalism, including an Iris Award for documentary work by the National Association of Television Program Executives. He was named the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) Region 9 TV News Photographer of the Year in 1979 and served as chair of the NPPA National TV News competition for three years. In 1993 he was named News Bureau Director at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, and oversaw creation of the college's first website.

News & Notes

Education

Bachelor of Science, Mass Communications, Minnesota State University Moorhead

Employment History

ÂÒÂ×ÊÓÆµ, ÂÒÂ×ÊÓÆµ, N.C. - Special Assistant to the President (2021 - present)

ÂÒÂ×ÊÓÆµ, ÂÒÂ×ÊÓÆµ, N.C. - Vice President for University Communications (2011 - 2021)

ÂÒÂ×ÊÓÆµ, ÂÒÂ×ÊÓÆµ, N.C. - Assistant Vice President and Director of University Relations (2004 - 2011)

ÂÒÂ×ÊÓÆµ, ÂÒÂ×ÊÓÆµ, N.C. - Director of College Relations (1998 - 2004)

Concordia College, Moorhead, Minn. - Director of News Bureau (1993 - 1997)

WDAY-TV-Radio, Fargo, N.D.  - Chief photographer, senior reporter (1976 - 1993)

Leadership Positions

  • ÂÒÂ×ÊÓÆµ Senior Staff member since 1998
  • Former board member, College News Association of the Carolinas

Publications

  • Lead author, AI-U/v1.0, the 2024
  • Lead author, 2025

Professional Activities

North Carolina Association of Independent Colleges and Universities

College News Association of the Carolinas

Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE)

Service Activities

  • University of Southern California Parent Engagement Committee
  • Board of Directors, Burlington (N.C.) Downtown Corporation

Skills

Media relations, news, journalism, broadcast, photography, photojournalism, television, radio, Web site design, social media, communications strategy, higher education communications, corporate communications, writing for various media, crisis communications, use of artificial intelligence.

Awards