Release date: Sept. 30, 2005
Contact: Nancy Seideman at 404-727-0640 or nseidem@emory.edu

Emory Appoints VPs in Human Resources, Marketing

Emory University has appointed two key senior administrators in human resources, and in marketing.

University of North Carolina executive Peter Barnes will become Emory's vice president of human resources effective Dec. 1. Home Depot marketing executive Ellen Dracos Lemming will join Emory effective Nov. 1 as the university's first vice president of marketing.

Barnes comes to Emory from UNC–Chapel Hill, where he serves as senior vice president and director of human resources of the UNC Health Care System, and as compliance co-officer and director of graduate medical education for UNC Hospitals.

"At UNC, Peter Barnes serves contemporaneously in three executive-level roles, demonstrating his understanding and commitment to both higher education and health care missions. He was the clear first choice overall for Emory among an accomplished pool of candidates," says Mike Mandl, Emory's executive vice president for finance and administration. Barnes is a UNC alumnus, where he studied as a James M. Johnson Scholar and earned a B.A. in biology and English.

Marketing vice president Dracos Lemming comes to Emory after seven years at The Home Depot, most recently serving as vice president for brand marketing and president of Home Depot Incentives, Inc.

A 1985 graduate of Duke University, with a B.S. in psychology, Lemming has more than 20 years of marketing experience in various industries, including a yearlong stint as vice president for marketing at Kaplan Educational Centers in New York. Dracos Lemming's appointment represents a new strategic direction for the university, which will be expanding its efforts in external marketing.

"When we began this search, we said we wanted someone with proven success in the corporate marketing world, and that's exactly what we found," says Johnnie Ray, Emory's senior vice president for development and university relations. "Ellen Dracos Lemming has demonstrated a remarkable acumen in every industry in which she has worked, whether it's home improvement with The Home Depot or brain improvement with Kaplan. We know she'll continue to excel in marketing the kind of intellectual improvement we specialize in at Emory."

Emory University is known for its demanding academics, outstanding undergraduate college of arts and sciences, highly ranked professional schools and state-of-the-art research facilities. For nearly two decades Emory has been named one of the country's top 25 national universities by U.S. News & World Report. In addition to its nine schools, the university encompasses The Carter Center, Yerkes National Primate Research Center and Emory Healthcare, the state's largest and most comprehensive health care system.

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