The announcement was made May 8 by Dr. Russell Lowery-Hart, President of Amarillo College.

Ball has served as General Manager of Panhandle PBS since October 2016. He replaces Chris Hays, current Interim VP of Communications and Marketing and CEO of Panhandle PBS. Hays recently accepted a position as Vice President of Content and Community Engagement at WMHT, a public television station in Albany, NY.

“I am excited and honored to have Kevin at Amarillo College to guide our communications and marketing efforts, as well as continuing to lead Panhandle PBS in its mission of service to our community,” Lowery-Hart said. “Kevin’s experience and knowledge of marketing and the media industry will help us better tell the stories of our students, the faculty and staff, and how we are working to increase the success of Amarillo and its people.”

Ball served as VP of marketing for Hastings Entertainment for more than ten years, followed by three years as executive director of the Amarillo Botanical Gardens.

“Amarillo College and Panhandle PBS are vital community institutions which I am proud to serve,” Ball said. “I am committed to helping them continue to find more innovative and relevant ways in which they share the stories of the Panhandle and its people, and to increase the success of our students and our entire workforce.”

Before becoming interim VP at Amarillo College, Hays served as Director of Content, and then General Manager of Panhandle PBS.

“I appreciate the time I’ve spent at Amarillo College and Panhandle PBS,” Hays said. “It is my hope that we have re-established the station as a true community leader and resource, and that we have positioned the College to achieve its goals of 70-percent student completion by 2020.”