McNamara leaving UH to be CommPac president

John McNamara, the associate athletics director for external affairs at the University of Hawaii, is leaving his position to take over as president of Communications Pacific on Nov. 16.

McNamara, 53, will be responsible for corporate relations, business development, client services, strategic planning, and development of new services and capabilities.

He has served as associate athletics director at UH since 2004 and was a finalist for the athletics director job earlier this year. After that position was awarded in March to David Matlin, McNamara said he was interested in pursuing “new career challenges and opportunities.”

“This is something that’s been on my radar screen for a number of years, having worked for the corporate sector for the majority of my career,” McNamara said in a telephone interview Wednesday ahead of today’s official announcement. “I’ve always been enticed with life on the other side of the fence. So I’m just thrilled now to have a chance to make this career move and experience that with Communications Pacific, a company that has a solid reputation and a lot of talented team members.”

During his 11 years at UH, McNamara supervised the department’s external activities, including marketing, corporate partnerships, media relations, merchandising, advertising, promotions, branding and licensing. The university’s Corporate Partner Program generated record revenue each year he was there, bringing in more than $5 million in cash and trade sponsorships from 83 companies during the 2014-15 sales campaign.

McNamara, whose last day at UH will be Nov. 13, helped negotiate the department’s eight-year agreement with Under Armour, which provides more than $4 million in cash and trade; and a six-year television agreement with Oceanic Time Warner Cable, which includes a record $2.3 million annual rights fee.

CommPac owner and Chief Executive Officer Kitty Lagareta said she’s pleased to have hired McNamara, who has 31 years of experience in communications, marketing and corporate relations. Lagareta had been serving as both president and CEO.

“We … look forward to his leadership as we continue to expand and enhance strategic communications, public relations and marketing services, not just for our current clients, but as we identify new opportunities,” she said.

McNamara has strong ties to the community as does his wife, Sherry Menor-McNamara, who is the first female president and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce Hawaii.

“Having worked with the corporate community here in Hawaii over the last decade will certainly assist me in this new endeavor,” McNamara said. “The opportunity presented to me at CommPac was a perfect fit.”