Lisa Lapin, vice president for university communications, has announced she is leaving Stanford in July to become vice president of communications at the J. Paul Getty Trust in Los Angeles.

A national search will be launched for her successor. In the meantime, Brad Hayward, associate vice president for university communications, will head the department on an interim basis.
Lapin, who joined Stanford in 2008 as an assistant vice president, was promoted to vice president in November 2017. In nearly a decade at Stanford, she has overseen the central communications for the university, advising campus units and leaders and serving as the university’s chief spokesperson.

In nearly a decade at Stanford, Lisa Lapin has overseen the central communications for the university, advising campus units and leaders and serving as the university’s chief spokesperson. (Image credit: L.A. Cicero)

In his announcement of Lapin’s resignation to the University Cabinet, President Marc Tessier-Lavigne praised her for building “a modern university communications office,” noting that many of the programs she created here “have been emulated by universities around the world.”

The Office of University Communications includes internal and external communication programs, media relations, web and digital platforms, crisis response, the Stanford News Service, Stanford Report and Stanford Video.

Among her accomplishments, Lapin oversaw the growth and redesign of Stanford’s central web and digital platforms, which currently reach millions of people daily, as well as the conversion from print to digital of such publications as Stanford Report. She leads the Communications Working Group, a network of campus communications professionals in the schools, major units and dozens of university offices.

In 2013, she oversaw development and implementation of the new Stanford visual identity and toolkit to help units align with current technology. Her team has introduced more efficient services and tools, including Stanford Web Services, the SALLIE visual asset management system and web accessibility support. Other innovations include systems to improve emergency and crisis communications and content production and delivery.

Prior to Stanford, Lapin served as the chief communications officer at the University of California, Davis. She was an editor and reporter at daily newspapers, including the San Jose Mercury News, Los Angeles Times, New York Times and Sacramento Bee.

At the Getty Trust, Lapin will be responsible for overseeing the communications of an international cultural and philanthropic institution that includes the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Getty Research Institute, the Getty Conservation Institute and the Getty Foundation. It provides leadership in cultural education and preservation around the globe.