Lauer spent the last five years in Washington D.C. and Austin, Texas helping build TCU’s reputation as an industry leader in higher education, but he is best known as TCU’s first Vice Chancellor for Marketing & Communication, a position he held from 2000 to 2009.
“Larry Lauer is an accomplished professional whose work in higher education marketing impacted TCU as well as numerous universities across the country and abroad,” said TCU Chancellor Victor J. Boschini. “Larry was instrumental in designing the Commission on the Future of TCU, the University’s strategic plan that laid the foundation for our current strategic plan; the development of TCU’s mission statement and the redesign of the University’s logo. He also recently established a foothold for TCU in the Washington, D.C. area through a partnership with the Schieffer School of Journalism and the Center for Strategic and International Studies.”
With the publication of two bestselling professional books on “integrated marketing,” he gained the reputation in the U.S. and abroad as a pioneer of “integrated marketing” by bringing a much more sophisticated and integrated approach to advancing institutions. In 1999, he was appointed by then Chancellor Michael Ferrari to direct the Commission on the Future of TCU, an integrated process that engaged community leaders, alumni, trustees, faculty, administrators, and students in imagining what TCU might become in the years ahead.
“Larry Lauer’s imprint on TCU is deep and substantial,” said TCU Chancellor Emeritus Ferrari. “I recognized early on that he had the talent, knowledge and instincts to make a significant impact in the area of integrated marketing and communication. He also had the capacity to contribute more to TCU, so I asked him to serve as the University’s first Vice Chancellor for Marketing & Communication. In that role, he advanced TCU to greater visibility and prominence in higher education, was instrumental in assisting other institutions’ integrated marketing and communication strategies and became internationally respected throughout higher education marketing circles. His extensive years of service have resulted in close connections to faculty, staff, students, alumni and the community. The University community has been deeply blessed to have someone of his caliber in key positions for so long and I wish him all the best as he proceeds to the next chapter of his career.”
Lauer came to TCU in 1966 to teach media studies and soon launched The Media Project to inform the public about the social and psychological impact of the television revolution. He moved into academic administration in 1974 as head of the evening college, summer school and non-credit programs, where he focused on bringing innovation to adult and continuing education. Then, in 1980, he joined the advancement division, where for more than 20 years he led initiatives in public relations, advertising, publications, alumni relations, athletics marketing, crisis communication, Texas legislative relations, and community relations.
John Lippincott, president of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, who has worked with Lauer on many different projects and initiatives noted that Lauer is among the tops in his field.
“When Larry began working with CASE, he was a one-man revolution,” said Lippincott. He set out to change the way communications and marketing were viewed within the academy and within the advancement profession. As a CASE author, teacher, and trustee, he argued for an integrated approach to marketing and a holistic approach to communications. The ‘Lauer legacy’ is that his one-man revolution is now best practice for tens of thousands of professionals working in schools, colleges, and universities around the world.”
In July 2012, Lauer received a professional lifetime achievement award from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), the largest international higher education association in the world, and in October the association’s highest teaching award, the Crystal Apple.
“TCU has been a wonderful place to make a career. Its evolution has been simply astounding. I was to fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with incredible colleagues. And I am thrilled that I will still be collaborating with students, teaching seminars, continuing to write, and working on special projects in strategic and International communication, and on the future of higher education,” said Lauer.