PROFILE

Melinda Semadeni serves as assistant dean for the College of Fine Arts and Communications, heading the External Relations office in its efforts to highlight and maximize the positive impact of the college’s six academic areas as well as the Museum of Art. She is the college’s alumni director and is a liaison for donor relations with Philanthropies, the BYU OnStage MarComm Committee and the board of the CASE Utah Committee.

With nearly 20 years of communications experience as a journalist, analyst, advocate and director of media relations, Semadeni specializes in strategic communications, media relations, media training, creative campaigns, public speaking, writing, voice-over and community outreach.

After more than a decade in Washington, D.C. — working in media, communications for a federal commission dedicated to religious freedom, government relations and public relations for associations dedicated to protecting investors and helping American workers prepare for retirement — Semadeni came to BYU in the fall of 2013, serving as assistant dean of communications and analysis in the College of Humanities prior to joining the Dean’s office of the College of Fine Arts and Communications.

In her role in External Relations, Semadeni works to represent the college to the media and the public, disseminate announcements and information to the BYU community and share student and faculty stories across the academic areas through articles, news releases and social media posts. She oversees a team in writing, social media, web development, photography, graphic design and public relations.

Semadeni stays involved in the campus community as a board member of the BYU Women’s Conference and a member of the BYU Copyright Committee, Campus Communicators and Social Media Committee. She is the founder and chair of the College of Fine Arts and Communications External Relations Council and the Branding Working Group.

In addition to her experience in communications, Semadeni is passionate about the arts. She enjoys music and has performed as both a soloist and narrator with choirs in Washington, D.C. and has been featured as a soloist in the Temple Square concert series.

AWARDS AND RECOGNITION 

Semadeni helmed donor outreach campaign “Sacred Sounds: Can Music Heal the Religious Divide?” which was a finalist in three categories in the Public Relations Society of America’s Utah Golden Spike Awards in 2018 and won in the Community Relations category. She won Case District VII gold and bronze awards for the College of Humanities’ “50 Years of Fluency in the Human Conversation” campaign in 2017 and led the CFAC External Relations social media team to nine BYU Golden Hashtag (social media) awards between 2018 and 2019. Semadeni was the recipient of a BYU Staff and Administrative Employee Recognition Award in 2018.

EDUCATION

BA, Journalism, Brigham Young University, 2000; MPA, Public Administration, Brigham Young University, 2017; Certificate in Public Relations, University of Virginia, 2009