Claire Johnson - Associate Director, Integrated Communications (Football, Golf, Tennis) - Women's Tennis Support Staff

Claire Johnson

Title:
Associate Director, Integrated Communications (Football, Golf, Tennis)
Email:
claire.johnson@memphis.edu

Claire Johnson joined the Tigers in July 2021 and has worked with women's soccer, men's soccer, volleyball, women's basketball, softball, both golf and tennis programs and football while spearheading the Communication department's student intern program and serving as the public relations representative for multiple department initiatives during her four years in Memphis.

Prior to her jump to Division I, Johnson spent two and a half years at Missouri S&T. While with the Miners, Johnson was the main media contact for women's basketball, men's and women's golf, women's soccer, softball, and women's volleyball, as well as the second contact for football. She was also in charge of handling all Miner Athletics social media accounts, graphic design work for the department, scheduling and facilitating media days, and training student-workers for various jobs on game-day.

During her time in Rolla, Johnson worked on the department's social media push of former S&T football player, Tershawn Wharton, when he signed an NFL contract with the Kansas City Chiefs and, eventually, made the 53-man roster for the reigning Super Bowl Champions in 2020. She also oversaw the publicity for the women's volleyball team, who claimed the program's first ever AVCA ranking at No. 25 during the 2020-21 season. The Miners would make it to the GLVC Tournament for the second consecutive year and all the way to the championship match for the first time in the team's history.

Prior to her time at Missouri S&T, Johnson was named the first full-time Sports Information Director at Harris-Stowe State University in St. Louis, Mo. As the Hornets media contact for their seven sports, Johnson live-streamed the first home games in the department's history, increased their social media presence tenfold, and ran the point for the redesign of hornetsathletics.com. On top of being the departments Sports Information Director, Johnson also served as the the Game Day Operations Administrator, a Title XI Coordinator for the athletic department and as the staff liaison for the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and the Association of Student-Athletes (ASA).

Before joining Harris-Stowe in 2017, Johnson got her career start as the Graduate Assistant for the sports information department at her alma mater, Lindenwood University-Belleville. In her time as an employee for the Lynx, Johnson was the main contact for 14 sports and the second contact for football. During her time there, Johnson started an on-campus internship opportunity between the athletics and communications department. This relationship between the two departments helped to funnel future athletic communications professionals into the sports information office on a semester or yearly basis.

Johnson, a native of St. Peter's, Mo., is a 2016 graduate of Lindenwood University-Belleville where she graduated with a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications and Media Studies. While at LUB, Johnson was on scholarship for the Lady Lynx basketball team and was named to the 2013-14 and 2014-15 American Midwest Conference All-Academic Team. She graduated with her master of arts degree in Corporate Communications from Lindenwood University in 2018.