Published Sept. 19, 2018
Two representatives from the University of Louisiana Monroe are participating in the
University of Louisiana System Management and Leadership Institute. The Institute
is designed to maximize the participants’ effectiveness in management roles and gain
a deeper understanding of management roles in higher education.
Dr. Julia Letlow, Executive Director of External Affairs and Strategic Communications,
and Dr. Christopher Gissendanner, Associate Director of the School of Sciences and
Graduate Coordinator for the College of Arts, Education and Sciences and the Biology
M.S. program, are ULM’s representatives.
Letlow’s experience in higher education began at ULM in 2003 as a teaching associate
in the Communication Department. She continued her graduate studies at the University
of South Florida and completed her Ph.D. in Communication.
Letlow began her professional career at ULM in 2007 working on special projects for
the Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs. She was then offered a position
at Tulane University School of Medicine as the Director of Education and Patient Safety.
During her tenure there she created a curriculum for physicians to strengthen their
communication skills.
In 2014, she moved back to north Louisiana and accepted the position of Director of
Marketing and Communications at her alma mater. She recently accepted more responsibility
as the Executive Director where she serves as the governmental liaison on behalf of
the university and provides oversight of strategic communications and initiatives
to enhance a favorable public image of ULM.
Gissendanner was a member of the College of Pharmacy faculty for more than five years
before returning to the School of Sciences in 2017.
He has a B.S. in Biological Sciences from Florida State University and an M.S. and
Ph.D. in Cellular Biology from the University of Georgia.
Gissendanner completed his post-doctoral training at New England Biolabs in Ipswich,
Mass., and has pursued an externally funded research program in developmental genetics
as both a biology and pharmacy faculty member. Gissendanner has been involved in several
undergraduate science education initiatives, including the Howard Hughes Medical Institute
SEA-PHAGES program at ULM.
He serves on the External Advisory Committee for the Arkansas IDeA Networks for Biomedical
Research Excellence and is the Associate Treasurer and At-large Executive Committee
member for the Association of Southeastern Biologists.
Letlow and Gissendanner, along with colleagues selected from other ULS schools, will
attend nine two-day sessions over two semesters at each of the ULS universities.
