Following a national search, Angela Polec, FOX ’07, ’12, has been named vice president for strategic marketing and communications, Temple University President Richard Englert announced Thursday. Subject to final approval by the Board of Trustees, Polec will begin in this role on Nov. 20, 2023, and will report directly to the president. 

A two-time graduate of Temple, Polec comes to the role after serving in a similar capacity at La Salle University since 2019. Prior to that, she served as the executive director of marketing and communications at Montgomery County Community College. She also previously served as Temple’s director of marketing within the very office that she will now lead. 

“We are very excited to welcome Angela back to Temple University,” Englert said. “She is Temple through and through, and she brings with her a deep understanding of enrollment marketing, crisis communications and brand development. Temple is a world-class institution with incredible brand equity. We believe that brand will grow even stronger thanks to Angela, and the expertise that she brings to this role.” 

At La Salle, Polec served as the first cabinet-level chief marketing and communications officer, reporting directly to the president and elevating the strategic role of the division. During her tenure, she developed strategic messages and an integrated content strategy that reinvigorated the university’s brand. Under her leadership, they established a digital marketing and analytics function, transformed the marketing technology stack, and implemented an intentional approach to storytelling, with a focus on the digital user journey and delivering measurable results. 

As a member of the president’s executive team, she played a key role in crisis and issues management, especially with respect to messaging and communications. Polec also led the development of a proactive and reactive media relations strategy that led to a significant increase in earned media placements. 

Polec also brings considerable enrollment management and enrollment marketing experience to the role. At La Salle, during a presidential transition, she served in a concurrent appointment as the vice president of enrollment, marketing and communications from February 2021 to August 2022. While there, she led the development and implementation of a data-informed student recruitment plan, which resulted in a 13% increase in first-year students after three consecutive years of decline. 

At Temple, Polec will be the first person to hold the title of vice president for strategic marketing and communications since 2016. 

"I am thrilled to be returning to my alma mater to serve in this role. As a proud Temple Owl and lifelong Philadelphian, I know firsthand the impact of a Temple University education and the critical role that Temple plays in the city, the commonwealth and the world,” Polec said. “I look forward to working with faculty, staff, students and alumni to harness the power of the Temple University story to advance the mission and reputation of this esteemed institution.” 

Prior to coming to La Salle, Polec led the strategy and execution of the brand work, advertising, digital presence, enrollment marketing, media relations and crisis communications at Montgomery County Community College from November 2014 to April 2019. While there, she developed the college’s first comprehensive brand campaign, “Montco Momentum,” helping bring in a 22% increase in applications for the college. 

The Temple community is also very familiar with another brand campaign that Polec helped lead. During her time at Temple from 2011 to 2014, she managed a universitywide brand project for the expanded “Temple Made” campaign, which still resonates today.  

“From an impressively strong pool of candidates, Angela emerged as the best fit, someone who knows and understands Temple and Philadelphia and at the same time has a proven record of success in modern digital marketing and communications,” said David Boardman, dean of the Klein College of Media and Communication who chaired the search committee for the role. “We are all excited to work with her.” 

In addition to her work in higher education, Polec previously served as a digital marketing coordinator for the Philadelphia Flyers. 

She holds an EdD in higher education management from the University of Pennsylvania. Her doctoral dissertation explored the role of chief marketing and communications officers in higher education, how they are effecting change at institutions and how they are perceived by presidents and vice presidents. She holds a master’s degree and bachelor’s degree in marketing, both of which were earned at Temple’s Fox School of Business. 

Polec resides in Philadelphia with her husband, Bill, and their four children.