Rachel Beanland Named Assistant Dean at Washington and Lee's Williams School
Rachel Beanland of Lexington, Va., has been appointed assistant dean of the Williams School of Commerce, Economics, and Politics at Washington and Lee University.
Beanland was previously the principal of Kismet Communications, a Lexington-based communications consulting firm whose clients included Bryn Mawr College, ChildFund International, The Steward School in Richmond, Va. and the Virginia Community College System, among others.
She succeeds John Jensen, who was named director of career development and associate dean of students at Washington and Lee earlier this year.
Beanland holds the accreditation in public relations (APR) designation from the Public Relations Society of America and has served on the organization’s Richmond Chapter board of directors. She has won eight awards in PRSA Richmond and South Carolina chapter competitions for brochures, newsletters, annual reports, events and observances, audio programs and crisis communications.
“Rachel brings extensive experience in public relations and communications,” said Rob Straughan, associate dean and professor of business administration/marketing at the Williams School. “We are very excited about the contributions that she will make to the full range of co-curricular programs in the Williams School.”
Beanland is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of South Carolina, Honors College, with bachelor’s degrees in journalism and art history, and membership in Omicron Delta Kappa, the national leadership honor society.
