Penn State Health appoints Dara Royer as senior vice president and chief marketing and communications officer

Experienced leader to join executive leadership team and advance system-wide growth, alignment and brand strategy

Penn State Health has named Dara Royer as senior vice president and chief marketing and communications officer. She will serve as a member of the organization’s executive leadership team and report directly to Chief Executive Officer Dr. Michael Kupferman.

In this role, Royer will lead marketing and communications strategy across the integrated academic health system, including its community hospitals, medical group practices and a growing ambulatory footprint. Her work will focus on strengthening alignment across the system, supporting access and growth, and advancing Penn State Health’s position as a leading academic health system.

“Dara brings a unique combination of strategic leadership, brand expertise and experience guiding complex organizations through growth and transformation,” Kupferman said. “As we continue to build a more connected and competitive health system in close partnership with our College of Medicine, her leadership will play an important role in how we align our efforts, elevate our profile and communicate the value of what we deliver to the communities we serve.”

Royer joins Penn State Health with more than 15 years of executive leadership experience across healthcare, higher education and global nonprofit organizations. Most recently, she served as chief marketing officer at Syracuse University, where she modernized the university’s approach to brand, digital marketing and storytelling, contributing to sustained growth in visibility, engagement and student demand. In recognition of her impactful work and for co-founding the university’s Women in Leadership program, she was recently awarded the Chancellor’s Medal, the institution’s highest honor.

Prior to Syracuse, Royer served as chief development and marketing officer at Mercy Corps, where she oversaw global marketing, communications and fundraising efforts across more than 40 countries. She also held senior leadership roles with ALSAC/St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, where she led integrated brand and marketing initiatives supporting one of the most recognized healthcare organizations in the country. Earlier in her career, she held a leadership role at Cook Children’s Health Care System, where she helped align marketing, communications and physician outreach to support system growth and patient access.

Her background reflects a consistent focus on building strong, integrated marketing functions that connect strategy to outcomes, supporting organizational growth, strengthening reputation and improving access to services.

Royer’s role will support the continued evolution of Penn State Health as an integrated academic health system, bringing together a leading academic medical center with four additional community-based hospitals, and a broad network of outpatient and ambulatory locations. Marketing and communications will play a key role in strengthening connectivity across the system, Royer said, reinforcing a shared sense of purpose and supporting the organization’s ability to grow and compete in an increasingly complex healthcare environment.

“Penn State Health has a powerful story to tell, grounded in its mission, its people and the care it provides across the communities it serves,” Royer said. “I’m excited to join the organization at this important moment and to help connect and elevate that story in a way that supports access, growth and a more unified system.”

Royer holds an Executive Master of Public Administration from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University, where her studies focused on leadership, global and rural health, and the role of organizations in addressing complex public challenges. She also completed advanced study in international and non-governmental organization leadership through Maxwell, further strengthening her perspective on mission-driven work and large-scale systems. In addition, she has completed executive education programs in senior leadership at Harvard Business School and executive women’s leadership at Cornell University.

Royer earned her Bachelor of Arts in History from Indiana University Bloomington, where she was actively involved in leadership and academic honor societies, including Phi Alpha Theta and Order of Omega, and held multiple leadership roles in student organizations.

Royer will join Penn State Health on June 29.

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