Patrick Strickler named UW director of communications

Patrick Strickler, a communications executive with more than 30 years of public affairs and journalism experience, will become director of communications at UW–Madison as of Dec. 1, Chancellor David Ward announced today (Sept. 16).

Patrick Strickler

“Patrick brings with him a wealth of knowledge and broad experience in the management of communications in large and complex organizations, and I am pleased he is going to be joining our team and providing leadership in this strategic area for the university,” Ward said.

Strickler, 56, formerly was first vice president and director of public affairs at Firstar Corp. in Milwaukee until late 1998, when the bank holding company was acquired by Star Banc of Cincinnati. Ward explained that Strickler, who lives near Cedarburg, Wis., will serve the university in a consulting role until Dec. 1.

Strickler, whose annual salary will be $98,000, succeeds Susan Trebach, who resigned as director of the Office of News and Public Affairs in November 1998 to become executive director of public affairs for the University of Illinois. Amy E. Toburen will continue until Dec. 1 as interim director of the Office of News and Public Affairs, Ward said.

“Amy Toburen has been doing an excellent job of managing the Office of News and Public Affairs, and will continue to bring her expertise and insight to bear on the broad range of communications issues of the university,” Strickler said.

As UW–Madison director of communications, Strickler will develop a communications strategy for the university, serve as the university’s chief spokesman and direct the Office of News and Public Affairs, Ward said.

Strickler has extensive experience in communications and public affairs management, most recently in banking and financial services. As director of public affairs for Firstar, he was responsible for all internal and external communications for the holding company. Before joining Firstar, he was executive vice president for public affairs at Mercantile Bancorporation in St. Louis from 1990-97.

Prior to starting his public relations career, Strickler worked from 1965-74 as a reporter at the South Bend Tribune; Kalamazoo Gazette; and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, where he was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for local reporting; and as an editor at the Detroit Free Press.

A 1965 graduate of the University of Notre Dame with a bachelor’s degree in mass communications, Strickler completed the executive program in strategy and organization at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business in 1995, and served as a congressional fellow with the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. during 1996-97.