WSU has hired the University of Illinois at Chicago’s senior executive director of marketing and brand management as its new vice president for marketing and communication.

Phil Weiler will take over the position on May 1 from John Gardner, chief executive officer of the WSU Foundation, who has been substituting as vice president for University Communications.

With more than 26 years of experience in executive positions for other systems like the University of Oregon, Symantec Corp and the Eugene, Oregon chapter of the American Cancer Society, Weiler will help WSU with a strategy for a “comprehensive, integrated communication and marketing” plan, according to a WSU news release.

“Washington State University is one of the truly great institutions of higher learning in America,” he said in the release.

Weiler has been accredited by the Public Relations Society of America and is a member of the International Collegiate Licensing Association.

“Phil joins us at an exciting moment in the university’s history,” WSU President Kirk Schulz said in the release. “We’ve launched the ‘Drive to 25,’ our institution-wide effort to be recognized as a top 25 public research university by 2030, and Phil’s leadership will be critical in achieving that goal. I’m delighted with the vision, experience and energy he will bring to growing our reputation.”

Reporting by Rosemarie Blume