Rita Langdon serves as Director of Public Relations for Long Island University’s campuses in Brookville (C.W. Post), Brentwood, Rockland and Southampton, as well as locations in Riverhead and Manhattan. She also serves as an Associate Provost of the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University.
An award-winning public relations specialist and journalist, Rita helps direct international and external communications for one of the largest private universities in the nation. Her responsibilities include media relations, news and information, Web site communications, recruitment publications, advertising coordination, community relations, employee relations, crisis management, as well as video and photography services.
She serves as editor of Post Press, the faculty-staff newsletter and as managing editor of Tree Talk, an environmental newsletter produced for the C.W. Post Community Arboretum. She also is a contributing writer to C.W. Post Today, a newsletter for local residents, as well as the Long Island University Magazine, which provides news and information for the University’s 157,000 alumni.
She was responsible for creating the University’s first Community Relations outreach program, which has resulted in strengthened ties with area residents and government officials and she organizes special events for the public to encourage them to experience campus life.
Rita came to the C.W. Post Campus in 1991 as Chief News Writer and was appointed Director of Public Relations in 1995. Prior to coming to C.W. Post, Rita worked as an editor, investigative reporter and feature writer for Anton Community Newspapers, a chain of 22 weekly newspapers on Long Island. For five years she edited one of Anton's most popular papers, the Hicksville Illustrated News, taking the subscription base from 800 to almost 4,000. She was also a business reporter and special advertising supplements coordinator for the Economic Times of Long Island, and was the recipient of a Long Island Press Club award for deadline reporting.
Rita has been honored for her efforts by peers in her field, and was awarded the Achievement in Communications Award from the International Association of Business Communicators-Long Island Chapter (IABC). She also earned a Silver Quill Award from IABC for a community relations campaign she co-developed with a colleague titled "Making Peace with the Neighbors."
Rita lectures at professional events on the topic of public and community outreach, and has mentored hundreds of students who are now working professionals in the field. She is also an adjunct professor in the Media Arts Department at the C.W. Post Campus where she teaches a course in Community Relations. She is currently writing a book on the history of the C.W. Post Campus, titled “Pioneering College.”
She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Journalism in 1991 and her Master of Arts degree in English in 1995, both from the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University.
In her spare time she enjoys traveling and gardening. |
