Chief Communication and Marketing Officer
University of Nebraska-Lincoln • 202 ADMS • Lincoln NE, 68588-0424 • 402-472-0296 • dfiddelke2@unl.edu
Deb Fiddelke is the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Chief Communication and Marketing Officer.
A native Nebraskan, Fiddelke’s resume includes positions with former U.S. Sen. Chuck Hagel and President George W. Bush, as well as working for Edelman Public Relations, a global communications and marketing firm, and SC Johnson, an America-based, multinational marketer of household products.
Fiddelke, who had previous experience working for former U.S. Rep. Doug Bereuter (R-Neb.) and former U.S. Rep Deborah Price (R-Ohio), served as press secretary for Hagel’s successful 1996 Senate campaign. During Hagel’s first term, she served as his communications director and senior policy adviser.
From there, she worked at the White House under President George W. Bush from 2004 to 2008. As special assistant to the president for legislative affairs, she advised five cabinet appointees through their Senate confirmation hearings and promoted the president’s legislative priorities in the Senate. As deputy assistant to the president for legislative affairs, she served as the White House point person in negotiating immigration legislation in the senate in 2007 and shepherded the reauthorization of the president’s international AIDS program through Congress in 2008.
After leaving Washington, she served as a senior member of the government and international relation teams that sought to bring the Olympics to Chicago in 2016. In 2010, she joined the Edelman’s Chicago office, where she provided corporate reputation, issues management and crisis communications counsel to clients that included Fortune 500 companies, economic development agencies and the Art Institute of Chicago. In 2013, she joined SC Johnson, becoming the firm’s head of global public affairs and communications and later its senior director for global government relations.
Fiddelke grew up in Kearney, Nebraska, and earned bachelor’s degrees in journalism and political science from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in 1990 and 1991, respectively. She also holds a master’s degree in political management from George Washington University’s Graduate School of Political Management.