Biography
Ginny Painter has more than 30 years’ experience in higher education and government communications, marketing and administration, including at the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission, the University of Charleston, the Marshall University Research Corporation and Marshall University. Earlier in her career, she served as deputy commissioner of the West Virginia Division of Culture and History and in communications roles for the state affiliate of the American Lung Association and the Black Diamond Girl Scout Council.
In her current position, she plays a critical role in helping the university president achieve maximum impact. In addition to managing the Office of the President, she provides strategic and analytical support to the president, including moving forward strategic projects and initiatives, developing execution plans, helping to set priorities, and managing processes and metrics for measuring success. She also oversees the operating rhythm of key governance processes, including the institution’s Board of Governors, the President’s Cabinet and shared governance processes.
From 2014 to her appointment as chief of staff in 2022, she served as Marshall’s senior vice president for communications and marketing, and was responsible for the university’s overall communications, media and public relations, marketing and branding activities.
The West Virginia chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) recognized her with its prestigious Practitioner of the Year award in 2001, and she received the organization’s Chapter Service Award twice—in 1995 and again in 1999. In 2013, she received the chapter’s TriCrystal Award, an award presented to the nine members in the chapter’s 42-year history who have received both the Practitioner of the Year and Chapter Service awards, and who have served as chapter president. Painter was honored with the Distinguished West Virginian Award by Governor Joe Manchin in 2009 for her work on the West Virginia State Museum renovation project. In 2018, she received a Women of Marshall Outstanding Achievement Award from the Marshall University Women’s Center and Women’s Studies Program. She previously served on the boards of directors of TechConnect West Virginia and the West Virginia Jobs Investment Trust.
A native of Saint Albans, she has a bachelor’s degree in journalism/public relations from Marshall University and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Charleston. She has completed the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB) Board Professional Certificate Program.