Cronkite School appoints new Endowment Board president

Kristin Bloomquist, a top advertising and marketing executive, is the new president of the Cronkite Endowment Board of Trustees at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Bloomquist, executive vice president and general manager at Cramer-Krasselt, is succeeding media attorney David J. Bodney, a partner at Ballard Spahr LLP who has served as board president since 2013. Bloomquist previously was a member of the board’s executive committee.

The Cronkite Endowment Board is made up of top local media and business executives who advise and assist Cronkite School leadership. They also help plan the annual Cronkite Award Luncheon, the largest gathering of media professionals in the Valley, at which the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism is presented to a nationally renowned journalist.

“Under the leadership of Dean Christopher Callahan and his team, the Cronkite School is fostering the next generation of journalists and doing so with the legacy of Walter Cronkite always in mind,” Bloomquist said. “I am honored and humbled to serve as president of the Cronkite Endowment Board of Trustees and to support the school however I can.”

Bloomquist has led advertising and marketing for global clients such as Burger King, DIRECTV, Expedia.com and TGI Fridays. She started her career at DDB in New York and then worked at other leading agencies, including JWT and Jordan, McGrath Case & Taylor.

At Cramer-Krasselt, Bloomquist leads the agency’s Phoenix office, where she is responsible for helping to develop and build the digital production team.

Prior to joining Cramer-Krasselt in 2009, Bloomquist was charged with opening the Los Angeles division of Deutsch, a national advertising agency. In her nine years at the firm, she held numerous roles, including director of client services, SVP director of human resources and development, and EVP director of operations. She was ultimately named one of seven partners at the agency and director of account management.

“Kristin’s passion and commitment to the Cronkite School over the years as a board member have been phenomenal,” Callahan said. “We are thrilled to welcome Kristin to the helm of the Cronkite Endowment Board of Trustees.”

The Cronkite Endowment Board was established in 1983 to provide the dean with important counsel and advice on a variety of university-related issues. Board members also mentor students and provide internship opportunities.

The board is made up of more than 50 members with a diverse collection of professional backgrounds, including leading newspaper editors and publishers, radio station general managers, magazine editors and publishers, public relations executives and other communications industry leaders from across Arizona.