Rosa M. Gatti '13 Hon.

Rosa M. Gatti is the retired ESPN Senior Vice President, Communications Counsel and Corporate Outreach.

Expertise

Rosa M. Gatti retired in 2013 as  Senior Vice President, Communications Counsel and Corporate Outreach at ESPN. An ESPN and cable television pioneer, Gatti joined ESPN in 1980 in its first year of operation. As director of communications and, one year later, vice president, she built the communications department, establishing policies and best practices. Over the years, she and her team helped to grow the ESPN brand. In 1988, she was promoted to senior vice president. After other promotions, she became senior vice president, Communications Counsel and Corporate Outreach. During her tenure, she has also overseen Human Resources and diversity initiatives for the company. Before joining ESPN, Ms. Gatti enjoyed a distinguished career as the first female sports information director at an NCAA major college, her alma mater, Villanova University, in 1974. She later served as sports information director at Brown University.

Community Service

Ms. Gatti was a vice president of the College Sports Information Directors of America, which presented her with the Keith Jackson Eternal Flame Award for dedication to the organization and college athletics. She served on the Villanova University board of trustees for 10 years. She joined the University of New Haven Board of Governors in 2010 and is president of the board of directors of the Association for Cable Communicators. She is a member of the boards of directors for The V Foundation for Cancer Research and the Henry C. Lee Institute of Forensic Science. She has received numerous awards for her public and community relations efforts.

Education

Ms. Gatti graduated with a B.A. from Villanova in 1972. She was awarded an honorary Doctor of Business Administration from the University of New Haven in 2013.