BRAND NEW LEADERSHIP
Pressendo hopes to help alumni embrace ASU's new direction
By Sarah Auffret

It's not so unusual that Michael Pressendo '90 B.S., new chair of the ASU Alumni Association's board of directors, is a "fanatical" third-generation Sun Devil with a maroon mini-van and ASU license plates. What's impressive is the amount of creativity and energy he brings to the job.

Based on his history, the association board had better fasten its seat belts.

Pressendo, a marketing professional with expertise in brand management, created the most successful ad campaign ever for the national YMCA, and he has boosted the brands of Pepsi and Kimberly-Clark. Currently he's director of brand communications for the Make-a-Wish Foundation of America.

He was so confident in his ideas that, following ASU graduation, he contacted the top public relations firm in Phoenix and offered to work for no pay, for a trial period. A month later he was hired full-time, and within three years he was hired as director of media relations for a top PR agency in Washington, D.C.

Pressendo wants to help alumni recognize the direction ASU is taking, with its broad vision for the future, and help them embrace that passion.

"Dr. Crow's vision for the New American University is incredibly inspiring," he said. "The national and international journals are taking note of what's happening at ASU. We're leading efforts in biodesign, in crossdisciplinary research. ASU is helping our planet, with its sustainability efforts. I'd like to instill more pride and belief in what we're doing as a university."

He said he would also like to better utilize technology to communicate with alumni, and to make it easier for volunteers to communicate with each other around the country.

"I believe in empowering people," he asserted.

Pressendo is a self-confessed adrenaline junkie who gave up rock-climbing, sky-diving and four-wheeling to spend time with his family. He and his wife Ivy '93 B.A. have a 9-year-old son and 7-year-old daughter, who attend ASU football games with them. The family's involvement in matters related to ASU extends for beyond sports; his son's first outing as a newborn was to an ASU alumni board meeting.

"Both kids are hard-core Sun Devils," he says. "They like the ASU flag outside our house."