For release: May 30, 2012
For press information, contact Curt Guenther, 901-678-2843

Jennifer Rodrigues

Jennifer Rodrigues has been appointed a marketing manager with the University of Memphis Division of Communications, Public Relations, and Marketing.  She will assist with the University’s marketing, communications, and public relations efforts.

For the past 14 years, Rodrigues has worked with the U of M Athletics Department’s media relations office.  She was named director of Athletic Media Relations at the start of the 2004 football season, and was promoted to assistant athletic director for Media Relations in spring 2010. She was responsible for the publicity and promotion of the U of M football team, as well as overseeing the Athletics Media Relations Office. In 2005, she spearheaded a highly-publicized Heisman Trophy campaign for the U of M’s star running back DeAngelo Williams.

In May 2008 Rodrigues was presented the Scoop Hudgins Outstanding SID Award by the All-American Football Foundation. A member of CoSIDA since 1991, Rodrigues' 2007 football media guide ranked fourth in the country and No. 1 in the district by the organization.

For seven years, Rodrigues served as the media coordinator of the C-USA Basketball Tournament hosted at FedExForum. In March 2000, she was the assistant media coordinator of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament/1st and 2nd Rounds, and a year later, served as the media coordinator for the NCAA Women's Basketball Mideast Regional. In 2002, she volunteered at the Mideast Regional hosted by Marquette University. In March 2009, Rodrigues served as the media coordinator for the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship South Regional, and worked in the same capacity for the 2010 Women's Basketball Regional at FedExForum.

After graduating in 1995 from the University of Southwestern Louisiana (now the University of Louisiana-Lafayette, ULL), Rodrigues joined the staff at Northern Arizona University as assistant sports information director for women's athletics. She also served as interim SID at NAU and handled men's basketball and football.  From NAU she went to Mississippi State University, where for two years she was assistant media relations director, serving as the contact for women's basketball and softball. She also assisted in the game-day operations for football, volleyball and men's basketball.

A native of New Orleans, Rodrigues received her bachelor's degree in journalism at ULL, where she was a student assistant in the sports information office from 1991 to 1995. There she was also the media contact for volleyball and the nationally-ranked Lady Cajun softball team.

She and her husband, Mike, have a daughter, Ally.