David Hertz

Biography

David Hertz is chief of staff, working directly with President Carmen Twillie Ambar to assist in implementing her priorities, which include managing safety protocols related to the health, safety, and welfare of the campus community during this global pandemic; improving the One Oberlin initiative; supporting the Presidential Initiative on Racial Equity and Diversity, and strengthening the town-gown relationship.

He replaces Ferd Protzman ’75, who retired from the college in December 2019.

Hertz, a resident of Copley, Ohio, has an extensive background in journalism, media relations, and strategic communications, with a specialty in national media strategy. He most recently served as managing director of the media relations group at Dix & Eaton, one of the top public relations agencies in the country. Oberlin College was one of the agency’s clients.

Hertz, who joined Dix & Eaton in 2006, managed a media relations team of eight. A highlight of his time there was overseeing the campaign to promote the Northeast Ohio business community when the Republican National Convention came to Cleveland in 2016. He coordinated all of the media relations work, which produced national media coverage about Cleveland and its comeback. 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 wife Beth, who works in media relations at Cleveland Clinic Akron General Hospital, and their two children, daughter Alyssa and son Joshua.