[Note: High resolution photos of Melanie Moran, Emily Pearce and Jim Patterson are available.]
Melanie Moran has been named associate director, serving as deputy to Director and Assistant Vice Chancellor for News and Communications Elizabeth P. Latt. Moran will continue to lead the Web Communications unit and to serve as the News Service’s liaison with Peabody College and the Arts and Science psychology department.
Prior to joining the News Service, Moran worked for seven years for the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, where she was responsible for managing media relations, events, speech writing, graphic arts and the website. She also served as assistant to Gov. Don Sundquist for communications.
Emily Pearce has been named associate director for video. Pearce serves as executive director of VUStar, Vanderbilt’s broadcast facility, and oversees all video projects.
An Emmy Award-winning veteran of television news, Pearce spent six years at ABC-TV-owned stations in San Francisco and New York, where she has planned and overseen live news coverage of events ranging from the Super Bowl to presidential trips to elections. She spent five years at the University of California, San Francisco, where she handled international, national and local media. She is also a former senior account executive with a Nashville public relations agency.
Jim Patterson has been named assistant director for editorial content. He oversees myVU, the faculty and staff website, and the monthly publication Vanderbilt View, as well as other special editorial projects. He continues to serve as liaison with the College of Arts and Science and Divinity School.
Patterson worked for 14 years for The Associated Press in Nashville, covering all aspects of news in Tennessee with emphasis on the religion, arts and music business beats.
Media contact: Elizabeth Latt, (615) 322-NEWS
Elizabeth.p.latt@vanderbilt.edu