JUNE 11, 2007                                                                                 

CONTACT: Tracy Schario

 tschario@gwu.edu, 202-994-3566

GW President-Elect Dr. Steven Knapp ANNOUNCES CHIEF OF STAFF AND ADMINISTRATOR OF OPERATIONS

WASHINGTON - GW President-elect Dr. Steven Knapp announced today that Barbara Porter, assistant vice president of media, marketing, and communications for the GW Medical Center, will become his chief of staff effective immediately. Porter has been with the University since 1998 when she was director of public affairs and University spokeswoman. She joined the management team of the GW Medical Center in 2000, directing all communications, marketing, advertising, and special projects.

Dawnita Chandler Altieri, special assistant to the vice president for advancement, will serve as administrator of operations for the president's office. She has been working with Knapp on an interim basis throughout the spring semester and assumed this role June 4, 2007.

"I am delighted to announce that Barbara has accepted my invitation to leave her current responsibilities in the Medical Center and assume the position of Chief of Staff to the President," said Knapp, who assumes the GW presidency on Aug. 1, 2007.  "I am grateful to Dr. Skip Williams, GW provost and vice president for health affairs, for graciously supporting Barbara in this move. Barbara is taking on this role in advance of my arrival so that she can begin to represent me in discussions concerning, among other things, my schedule for the coming fall."

Porter added, "I look forward to serving Dr. Knapp in this capacity and working with the vice presidents, deans, administrators, students, faculty, and trustees at GW as the University enters a new era. We have a tremendous legacy to build upon, and it will be exciting and challenging to be a part of the leadership at this important juncture in the University's history."

Knapp continued, "Dawnita has been a key part of my transition to GW, and I welcome her addition to my management team. She brings to the office valuable experience in higher education administration and public affairs."

A former broadcast news anchor and national correspondent, since 2000 Porter has served as an assistant vice president at The George Washington University Medical Center, where she directed all communications programs, including those initiatives of the GW Hospital, Medical Faculty Associates, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, and School of Public Health and Health Services. Porter also is an adjunct instructor of health care sciences. She developed a crisis communications course for law enforcement, fire, emergency health services, and other health professionals that she teaches as a part of a new graduate program in Emergency Health Services.

Porter honed her crisis communications skills supporting international events, such as the World Bank/IMF meetings and NATO Summit, and VIP visits to GW Hospital by Vice President Dick Cheney and Attorney General John Ashcroft, as well as the events of 9-11 and the subsequent anthrax attacks. Porter assisted Dr. Williams in the effort to create the Center for Emergency Preparedness and training programs for regional first responders and public health officials. In addition, she served on the University's SARS Task Force to develop messages during that unfolding public health crisis. Her grant work on crisis communications includes projects for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Homeland Security, D.C. Department of Health, and National Institutes of Health.