PhD, 2018 Kristen Linthicum is currently the executive strategic account manager for strategic planning and initiatives in the UGA Division of Marketing & Communications. She previously served as a government relations associate with the Office of Government Relations at UGA. Before earning her master’s degree, Linthicum worked in development and alumni relations at Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of Medicine. She planned class reunions and student events and assisted with donor recognition. At the University of Virginia she worked as a graduate assistant in the Office of Summer and Special Academic Programs. Linthicum earned her Bachelor of Arts degrees in journalism and political science from the University of Georgia and her Master of Education in higher education from the University of Virginia. She was the inaugural recipient of the Thomas Dyer Outstanding Dissertation Research Award, which is given for “rigorous original scholarship in the field of higher education.” While pursuing her PhD, she worked as a graduate research assistant in the UGA Office of the President.