David Hertz

Biography

David Hertz is chief of staff in the Office of the President, working directly as the strategic advisor to President Carmen Twillie Ambar. Since his arrival in 2019, he has worked to support President Ambar’s priorities, including in the areas of Executive Leadership Team development, community and government relations, strategic communications, the health, safety, and welfare of the campus community, strategic transformation, and diversity, equity, and inclusion, particularly the Presidential Initiative on Racial Equity and Diversity.

A resident of Copley, Ohio, Hertz has an extensive background in journalism, media relations, and strategic communications, with a specialty in national media strategy. During his 35-year career, his leadership and strategic vision have been honored with a Pulitzer Prize for Public Service as well as national awards for public relations strategy.

Prior to joining Oberlin, Hertz served as managing director of the media relations group at Dix & Eaton, one of the top public relations agencies in the country.

While at Dix & Eaton, Hertz oversaw the Northeast Ohio media campaign in advance of and during the Republican National Convention when it was held in Cleveland in 2016. His efforts and those of his team garnered two Silver and one Bronze Anvil awards, the top awards from the Public Relations Society of America.

Prior to Dix & Eaton, Hertz worked as a news reporter and editor with the Boca Raton News (Florida) and the Akron Beacon Journal (Ohio), respectively. He was part of the award-winning team at the Beacon Journal that received the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in 1994, for a series that examined race relations in Akron, Ohio.

Away from Oberlin Hertz enjoys gardening, hiking, and spending time with his family, which includes his wife Beth, who works in media relations at Cleveland Clinic Akron General Hospital, and their two children, daughter Alyssa and son Joshua.