News Release

Senior Leader Appointed as State President of AARP North Carolina

December 16, 2005

CHAPEL HILL — Diana "Dee" Hatch was recently appointed as the new State President of AARP North Carolina effective January 1, 2006. Dee was a past participant in the Senior Leadership Initiative, a program initially created by the Duke Long Term Care Resources Program and now administered by the UNC Institute on Aging. As a part of her leadership project Dee studied the various organizations in North Carolina advocating for aging issues.

Dee has been serving as Executive Volunteer for Communications for AARP North Carolina and brings a wealth of media and public relations experience to her position. She worked in corporate public relations for Fortune 500 companies and was a reporter, feature writer and editor for several weekly and daily newspapers, including the Syracuse Post Standard, The Burlington Free Press and the Elmira Advertiser. She also served as Director of Public Relations for WCNY-TV/FM, the public radio and TV outlet in Syracuse. After she moved to Raleigh, she became Director of Communications for UNC-TV, North Carolina's 11-station public television network. She is accredited in public relations by the Public Relations Society of America and served two terms as president of the North Carolina PRSA chapter. She has won many awards, including Woman of Achievement in Communications and the 1995 Southern Educational Communications Association's Public Information Council Professional Achievement Award. She has also served as an AARP chapter president in Cary.

About the Senior Leadership Initiative
The Senior Leadership Enhancement Initiative is a program sponsored by the UNC Institute on Aging. Participants in the Senior Leadership Initiative engage in a year-long program that includes a series of seminars, tutorials, and networking opportunities related to emerging aging issues in North Carolina and the development of an individualized personal leadership development plan tailored to the unique needs of each participant. For more information, please visit www.aging.unc.edu/seniorleaders/.