Tim Pavish, managing partner of DDB Worldwide Inc. in Seattle and a 1980 graduate of Washington State University’s Edward R. Murrow School of Communication, has been named the head of alumni relations for WSU and executive director of the WSU Alumni Association.
Pavish will succeed Keith Lincoln, who is retiring.
“We are delighted that Tim has agreed to take this position. He has been a tremendous friend of our university over the years, and we have greatly appreciated his loyalty, his hard work and his wise counsel. He is an ideal choice to continue the job of building the association and meeting the needs of our alumni,” said WSU President V. Lane Rawlins.
Working at DDB Worldwide since 1983, Pavish has risen through the organization and helped it grow from $10 million to more than $220 million in client billings, making it the largest communications agency in the state of Washington. As managing partner, Pavish was responsible for directing DDB’s advertising division, the largest and most profitable of the agency’s four operating units.
“First of all I want to salute Keith Lincoln and the vibrant alumni association he and his staff have built over the past 26 years. It’s clear WSU alumni care deeply about this university. It’s the job of all of us who work in alumni relations and with the alumni association to provide the graduates of Washington State University with the means to stay connected with fellow Cougars and with the university,” Pavish said.
“I am thrilled with this opportunity. I love Washington State University and am proud of all it has achieved. There is more to be done. We’ll do our best to ensure that alumni get the most out of their involvement with WSU and that alumni have meaningful ways to give back to their alma mater.”
Pavish, a native of Walla Walla, has been actively involved with his alma mater since graduating from WSU. He served as a trustee and remains a trustee ambassador on the WSU Foundation Board of Trustees; was past chair and is a current member of the WSU Athletic Foundation Advisory Committee; is a member of the university’s Advancement Communications Committee; was past chair and is a current member of the Professional Advisory Board of the Murrow School; is a past winner of the WSU Foundation’s Alumni Service Award and has served as a communications adviser to WSU administration.
He has also directed the development and execution of several award-winning advertising campaigns in support of the WSU Foundation and WSU Athletics. Pavish also led DDB Worldwide Inc. in becoming a benefactor of WSU, and he established the DDB Minority Student Scholarship in support of the Murrow School and WSU Athletics.
Pavish was selected after a nationwide search from a field of more than 50 applicants.
Pavish will begin his new job on Sept. 8. He is married to Carin (Hull) Pavish, a 1980 graduate of WSU. The couple has two children, McKenzie, 12, and Ben, 9.
The mission of the WSU Alumni Association is to enhance the quality and global recognition of the university, to help students attain a WSU education, to maintain connections with the university through services and programs for alumni and friends, and to offer meaningful ways to engage alumni in support of WSU and its mission of providing a world-class undergraduate education, graduate programs, faculty advancement and research and an economic catalyst for the state of Washington and its citizens.
