Denise Mattson

Associate Vice President for Public Relations


Trained as a journalist, Denise left the newspaper business for life in the academy in 1990 when she joined DePaul's media relations staff. As associate vice president for public relations, Denise serves as the university's official spokesperson and is responsible for setting strategic direction for the media relations and internal communication staffs. She and her team have earned several Gold and Silver Trumpets from the Publicity Club of Chicago, recognizing excellence in public relations, as well as 2008 Most Improved internal newsletter honors from Ragan Communication.

A 1987 graduate of Illinois State University, where she earned a bachelor's degree in mass communication with a sociology minor, Denise also holds a master of arts in liberal studies degree from DePaul. She began her professional journalism career interning at the Archdiocese of Chicago's newspaper, The New World, and then moved on to the legendary City News Bureau of Chicago, before concluding her days as a reporter at the Daily Southtown. She is author of "The Rise of a Dynamic Urban Planner: The Living Biography of Elizabeth Hollander," the story of Chicago's first woman planning commissioner. Denise also is a member of the International Association of Business Communicators, the Public Relations Society of America and the Publicity Club of Chicago.

Denise can be reached at (312) 362-6225.

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