Assistant to the Chancellor Steve Givens has been promoted to assistant vice chancellor and special assistant to Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton, effective July 1.
He will continue his duties in the chancellor’s office, which include managing office operations and staff, serving as liaison to internal and external groups, dealing with a wide range of concerns and issues, and managing special events and projects, which in the past have included events such as the presidential debates and the University’s Sesquicentennial celebration.
As assistant vice chancellor, Givens will have expanded responsibilities, including serving as the chancellor’s liaison to the Richard A. Gephardt Institute for Public Service and assisting in the development of the University’s next strategic plan. He will also assume leadership of an initiative to oversee and coordinate the campus visits of distinguished guests and groups.
“Steve Givens has served the University with great dedication and effectiveness during my tenure as chancellor,” Wrighton said. “He is a trusted and vital contributor to all aspects of our administrative efforts supporting our mission, and I am appreciative of his commitment to take on important new responsibilities to serve the University.”
A native St. Louisan, Givens earned a bachelor’s degree magna cum laude in English literature and a master’s degree in education, both from the University of Missouri-St. Louis.
Prior to joining Washington University, he owned and managed a public relations firm and held various positions in the University Relations division at UMSL, including as a speechwriter for former Chancellor Marguerite R. Barnett.
He joined Washington University in 1992 and served for two years as the editor of Washington University Magazine. Following a three-year stay in England, where he wrote and taught creative writing, he returned to Washington University in 1997 as assistant to the chancellor.
He has been active on many University committees and planning groups and often represents the University in the St. Louis community through involvement in such organizations as the Interdisciplinary Project for Children and Youth, the St. Louis Regional Conference on Racial Justice and Harmony, the National Conference for Community and Justice, and the Skinker-De Baliviere Community Council.
He is a board member of the National Association of Presidential Assistants in Higher Education.
He is the author of five children’s books published by New Canaan Publishing as well as numerous religious-education publications and books. He is the co-author, with photographer Tom Ebenhoh, of Arch Celebration, a book that commemorated the 25th anniversary of the Gateway Arch in 1990.
In the 1980s and 1990s, he was a widely published freelance journalist. More recently, his essays and commentaries have appeared in such publications as the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Suburban Journals and the St. Louis Review, and several of his commentaries have been broadcast on National Public Radio’s “Only a Game.”
Givens was a contributing writer, composer and musical performer for “The World’s Greatest Fair,” a two-hour CINE Gold Eagle and Emmy Award-winning documentary on the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair that aired nationally on PBS. He recently composed two pieces of period music for a new documentary on the Gateway Arch being produced by the same production company, Civil Pictures.
He has produced six independent CD projects.
Givens is married to Susan (Geerling) Givens; they have two children, Jonathan, 19, and Jennifer, 15.