Bob Graham Center for Public Service

Marianne Vernetson is the Interim Director of the Bob Graham Center for Public Service and a senior lecturer in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences. She leads the Graham Center’s academic programs, manages faculty and staff, and shapes the program’s strategic direction and priorities.

Vernetson holds a master’s in public administration from NYU’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service and a bachelor’s degree in communications from Florida State University. Since her arrival at UF in 2019, she has served as the Center’s Associate Director, overseeing day-to-day operations, strategic partnerships, public programming, and major student initiatives. As an instructor, she has taught core courses in the Public Service Minor, including the capstone course, IDS 4930 Public Service Management & Leadership.

Vernetson has more than 20 years of leadership, strategic planning, and economic development experience in government and the public sector. Prior to her time at the Graham Center, she served as senior director of strategic projects for New York City's Times Square Alliance, an economic development nonprofit that promotes local businesses in Times Square and improves the area's cultural life. While there, she was responsible for creating the first-ever NYC Ideas Forum with the International Downtown Association, bringing together downtown business and government leaders from across North America, Europe and South Africa for a two-day forum on collective learning and advocacy.

Formerly, she served as director of economic development and community relations for the Alliance, managing outreach and relationships with more than 500 storefronts and 1,200 commercial tenants.
Vernetson served as an event manager for four years in the New York City Mayor's office under Michael R. Bloomberg, coordinating all aspects of public events across multiple city agencies. She coordinated with key leaders for events such as the Mayor’s Awards for Arts & Culture, the Public Design Commission’s annual Design Awards, the September 11 commemoration ceremony and the 2010 inaugural ceremonies for his third term.

Vernetson directed special events, raised funds and coordinated programs over four years for the Madison Square Park Conservancy in New York City, an organization that supports the seven-acre urban park and public art space in Manhattan's Flatiron district. As a founding staff member, she ran more than 30 public programs annually and served as the point person between the park's various stakeholders and its board of directors.