UW-Whitewater athletic's marketing in good hands with Leah Thyne

Leah Thyne has been promoted to assistant athletic director for marketing and external relations at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Thyne had served UW-Whitewater as an athletic operations assistant in the NCAA Division III Ethnic Minority and Women's Internship Program the last two years.

"Leah successfully transitioned from her internship role to this full time position in athletics," director of athletics Dr. Paul Plinske said. "Simply put, she is an outstanding worker with a wonderful appreciation for UW-Whitewater. She has a great background in event management and marketing, and is equipped to help us engage our students, reach out to the local community, and attract a regional market with corporate partners. As our programs aspire for conference and national success, so does Leah Thyne. She aspires to make a difference," Plinske added.

Thyne has been involved in a number of major projects over the last two years. She created and executed marketing initiatives and promotions for Whitewater's twenty varsity sports, organized community relations events, and developed the Warhawk Camper Connection program. She also established the Purple Reign spirit group, assisted the athletic director with securing sponsorships and building a marketing budget, supervised game management activities, and produced specialized newsletters for teams, events and organizations within intercollegiate athletics.

In her position as assistant AD for marketing and external relations Thyne will handle event management for all sports except football, oversee all matters related to marketing and promotions, assist the director of athletics in the development of an external relations plan, work closely with university ticket operations, and work on other committees and activities under her umbrella of responsibilities and as assigned by the director of athletics

Thyne played basketball for the Warhawks for four years (2001-05), leading the team in assists her senior year, and served as a student assistant for the 2005-06 season before she graduated in 2006 with a bachelor's degree in business. She added a master's in sports management and marketing from Indiana University in 2007.

After graduation she worked as a sales and marketing intern for the Beloit Snappers minor league baseball club, as a sales and marketing associate for the Milwaukee Bucks, and as an assistant manager for Walgreen's before earning the NCAA internship at UW-Whitewater.