Kurt Bedell is the director of web strategy and digital governance at Portland State University. He leads university-wide efforts to strengthen PSU's web presence, with a focus on content strategy and governance, user experience, accessibility, search visibility and analytics.
Working closely with colleagues in University Marketing & Communications, the Office of Information Technology, Enrollment Management and academic units, Kurt helps establish shared priorities and standards for pdx.edu and PSU's decentralized web ecosystem. His work focuses on making the university's websites easier to navigate, more effective in serving students and the community, and more sustainable to manage.
Kurt joined PSU in 2015 as the School of Social Work's first marketing and communications manager. He subsequently held several leadership roles in University Communications, guiding digital marketing, web strategy and analytics while supporting major university initiatives. His current role builds on that experience, with an expanded focus on institution-wide web strategy and collaboration.
Before joining PSU, Kurt spent more than two decades in the private sector, including 17 years at Apple, working in marketing, communications and business development across the United States and Europe. He moved into higher education because of his belief in its power to transform lives and expand opportunity.
Raised in Holland, Michigan, in a family of educators, Kurt studied history at Northwestern University and taught ninth-grade English in Bangkok, Thailand, after college. He has called Portland home, on and off, since 1995.