LIFE IS A WORK ALWAYS IN PROGRESS
Larry McAllister II is a digital strategist, photographer, graphic designer, and multimedia content creator who has served the Rutgers community for over a decade.
Born in California and raised in Pennsylvania, Larry attended Rutgers’ Mason Gross School of the Arts, where he earned a BFA in Visual Arts, concentrating in both graphic design and printmaking, and received a Visual Arts Awards for outstanding achievement in visual arts.
After graduating, Larry would join Rutgers University Student Life’s marketing and communications office where he would serve as project manager and, eventually, as assistant director. In these roles, he managed graphic design, photo, and video projects, coordinated with web developers for the creation and maintenance of web and design projects, and developed the department’s social media presence.
Wanting to pay forward his own undergraduate experience working in the Student Life marketing office, Larry developed and instituted a credited internship program for students interested in graphic design, photography, video, social media, journalism, and web design/development. During his time in this role and as the department was absorbed by the Division of Student Affairs, Larry recruited, trained, supervised, and assessed over 80 undergraduate and graduate interns, preparing them for roles in marketing, communications, and multimedia production with companies like Pepsi, Esquire, Business Insider, Forbes, and many others.
After completing his Master’s in Communication and Information Sciences, Larry would transition to serving as the assistant director of social media strategy for Rutgers University Communications and Marketing. In this role, he develops and executes content and distribution strategies designed to raise the profile of the university, its faculty, staff, students, and key strategic initiatives through the use of universitywide social media channels and the production of highly engaging multimedia content.
In a key highlight of this role, Larry created and executive produced the two season, award-winning video series Faces & Voices of Rutgers, featuring President Jonathan Holloway in conversation with various members of the Rutgers community. Of particular note, one episode of the series aired in prime time on the Big Ten Network.
Recently, Larry made the difficult decision to leave Rutgers for a newly created role at the University of Delaware. Serving as the Senior Director of Digital Communications in the Office of Communications and Marketing, he is now responsible for leading UD’s digital communications suite, including but not limited to the university’s external web presence, social media, app and digital marketing.