Abbigail Tumpey, MPH selected as LBC Alumni Speaker for Spring Commencement

April 20, 2024

Abbigail Tumpey, MPH, Vice President for Institute Communications at Georgia Tech, will be the LBC Alumni Speaker for Spring Commencement. Tumpey graduated from Briggs in 1998 with degrees in medical technology and health and humanity, and has a Master of Public Health from the University of South Florida. A recognized health influencer, Tumpey credits her time at Lyman Briggs College for sparking her interest in public health.
 
Tumpey is the vice president for Institute Communications at the Georgia Institute of Technology. In this role, she provides leadership, oversight, and strategic direction for marketing and communications at Georgia Tech. Serving as the Institute’s Chief Communications Officer, Tumpey has responsibility for the brand and reputation across a diverse portfolio, including media relations, events, research communications, marketing communications, internal communications, executive communications, creative services, and digital strategy.
 
Before joining Georgia Tech, Tumpey had a 25-year career at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), with 21 years in communication leadership positions. Notably, she served as the head of communications for CDC from March 2021 to March 2022, overseeing communication efforts for the COVID-19 emergency response. While in this role, Tumpey reimagined CDC’s communication function and implemented the largest communication reorganization that agency had undertaken in more than a decade.
 
During her time at CDC, Tumpey expanded clinical outreach capacity and was instrumental in developing public-private partnerships and coalitions that advanced patient safety and public health initiatives. She spearheaded numerous national and international public health campaigns, including serving as one of the founders of the World Rabies Day initiative in 2007 and overseeing CDC’s antibiotic resistance communications efforts from 2009–2016. Tumpey served in a lead communication role during numerous outbreak responses, such as the 2012 multistate outbreak of fungal meningitis, the 2014-2015 Ebola outbreak, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the 2023 MPX pandemic.
 
In 2016, Tumpey was named one of 36 Champions of PR by PR Week magazine for their inaugural Hall of Femme. In 2021, she was honored as one of PR Week’s Health Influencers, celebrating the most prominent players influencing health communication and shaping the agenda around the battle against coronavirus, the race to distribute vaccines and booster shots, and narrowing disparities in health outcomes by ethnicity.
 
We are excited for Abbigail to return to East Lansing and share her experiences with the Class of 2024 at our April 28, 2024 commencement ceremony. Watch the ceremony livestream on the MSU Commencement website.