Ann W. Friou
Ann W. Friou is a writer, editor, and consultant specializing in public relations for higher education and non-profit organizations.
Since starting her consulting practice in 1992, Ann has provided a wide range of communications services for many institutions of higher education—including The University of Texas, Texas State University, Southwestern University, St. Edward’s University, and Austin Community College—and for a variety of non-profits, including the Salvation Army, the Women’s Symphony League of Austin, the Austin Nature Center, and the National Hispanic Institute.
Before starting her consulting practice, Ann served as Director of News and Information for The University of Texas System, managing media relations and donor communications for the nation’s second largest university system. She also served as Director of Communications at Southwestern University, where she planned and implemented communications strategy for the university’s successful national visibility campaign. Before joining Southwestern, she was News Bureau Director at the University of Idaho, where she managed state and national media relations and alumni publications.
Ann began her career as assistant editor of The University of Texas alumni magazine, The Alcalde, and worked as a newspaper writer and editor and in state government before returning to higher education. As a university publications manager, she created and edited two four-color magazines and a number of newsletters and tabloids with large national circulations. Her work has been featured in most of the nation’s major media, including The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune, Newsweek, The Associated Press, Reuters, National Public Radio, ABC News, and 60 Minutes, and in publications in Europe, Japan, and Mexico. Her work has been recognized with several awards from CASE (Council for Advancement and Support of Education) and the Idaho Press Women’s Association, and her public relations programs have been highlighted in two national periodicals.
Ann is a member of the communications team for the Governor’s Emergency Management Office. She has served as president of the Austin Chapter of the Association of Women in Communications and as Southwest Regional Vice President for AWIC, and she is a recipient of AWIC’s Gladys Hearst Outstanding Chapter Member Award. She holds the Bachelor of Journalism degree from UT-Austin (1976) and the Master of Arts degree in English from Texas State University-San Marcos (1999), where she currently teaches technical writing and consults in the College of Liberal Arts. She lives in Austin.
