Amanda Nelson

Co-Director of Strategic Communications

Amanda is a communications strategist with 20 years experience in health care and higher education. She brings content to life at the UK College of Education through writing, editing, photography, social media management, video production, media relations, and more. Amanda helps faculty, students, and staff serve as expert sources in response to media requests and works with UK Public Relations and Marketing to place news stories about the impact of the work taking place at the UK College of Education.

Amanda began her career as an award-winning journalist (print and photo). Her writing and photography have appeared in the Saturday Evening Post, Herald-Leader, Kentucky Living Magazine, numerous Kentucky weekly newspapers, and on NBC’s today.com. As a public relations professional, she has worked with CBS’ 60 Minutes, Los Angeles Times, ABC’s 20/20, The Dr. Phil Show, The New York Times, Washington Post, Good Morning America, National Geographic Channel, and nearly every media outlet across Kentucky.

Amanda previously directed a team of public relations professionals covering health care, research, teaching, and service news at a major academic medical center. There, she helped oversee a 24-hour on-call team, fielding requests between news media, clinicians, patients, and others at a fast-paced level one trauma center. During her work in health care communications, she served as a member of a hospital emergency response/incident command management team. She was trained at the FEMA Center for Domestic Preparedness for hospital/community response to a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or explosive (CBRNE) incident.

Amanda has created content for high-profile marketing and fundraising campaigns and has provided media counsel to physicians, donors, government officials, faculty, students, administrators, celebrities, and patients of high news media interest.

Amanda is a 2002 graduate of the University of Kentucky College of Communication and Information with a degree in Integrated Strategic Communication.