Aaron Sadler to Visit Campus as Part of Alumni Speaker Series
JONESBORO – Aaron Sadler, a long-time media relations officer and communications director, is the featured guest for the Dr. Joel Gambill Alumni Speaker Series at Arkansas State University, Monday and Tuesday, Oct. 9-10.
During his two-day visit, Sadler will speak to several classes in the College of Liberal Arts and Communication’s Department of Media and visit with student and faculty groups.
"Dr. Gambill earned my respect and admiration as a teacher, mentor and friend from the moment I met him as a freshman,” said Sadler. “I am humbled to be able to participate in the speaker series named for such a remarkable leader. He inspired me and countless other A-State alumni to seek out challenging and rewarding careers in communications."
Sadler is a third-generation Arkansas State graduate and Poinsett County native who currently directs media relations for Ghidotti Communications, a Little Rock-based marketing and public relations firm. At Ghidotti Communications, he handles media relations for a wide range of clients in the health care, manufacturing, hospitality and tech sectors.
Previously, he worked as director of media relations and as chief administrative officer for the Arkansas Attorney General’s Office, and served as communications director for attorneys general in Louisiana, Mississippi and Pennsylvania. During his time in public service, he led efforts to improve digital and social media outreach.
While spokesman for attorneys general, he spearheaded award-winning consumer awareness initiatives and managed every aspect of external and internal communications for the states’ chief legal officers.
Earlier in his career, he was public information officer for the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality. He has also worked as a reporter for Stephens Media in Washington, where he covered Congress, federal agencies and the 2008 presidential campaign for newspapers in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas.
He has been a reporter for The Jonesboro Sun, the Times Record of Fort Smith and the Arkansas News Bureau in Little Rock. Sadler got his start in professional journalism at age 13 as a sports reporter for his hometown newspaper, the Trumann Democrat.
Sadler graduated magna cum laude in honors from Arkansas State in 1999. He majored in journalism-news editorial and had a political science minor. A one-time aspiring lawyer, he credits Dr. Gambill for his decision to change his major, and thus his career path, to journalism.
The endowed Dr. Joel Gambill Distinguished Alumni Speaker Series is named after the 1965 A-State graduate who wanted to bring the media world to A-State students. Gambill was the first full-time instructor in journalism. He spent four decades building the department into a national leader in journalism education. He served as department chair for 36 years.
