Cynthia Kintigh, marketing director, plans to retire on March 4, 2026, after 27 years of advancing UC ANR’s mission.
Over the years, Kintigh has been involved in many UC ANR firsts: launching the first e-commerce site for book sales, creating the first brand guidelines for the website, partnering with Google Books and convening a “brain trust” of content creators who hatched “The Big Idea” that eventually became the Integrated Web Project.
One of her book marketing feats involved the first edition of the “California Master Gardener Handbook” in 2002. The first print run of 5,000 copies sold out in six weeks.
When Kintigh interviewed for the position that would eventually become UC ANR’s first marketing director, she brought 15 years of experience in arts management and event production, not an obvious match for the unit then known as Communication Services. Bob Sams, the unit director at the time, remarked, “I’m looking at your resumé and, while its impressive, I don’t understand why you want to work for us.” Kintigh replied, “At this point in my career, I’m just looking for interesting work in a place where people will be nice to me and where I don’t have to call anyone ‘Maestro.’”
Kintigh is especially proud of her work strengthening ties between the UC ANR and UCOP marketing and communications teams in the early 2000s. Fostering the fruitful partnership led to collaborations such as UC ANR’s inclusion in UC systemwide marketing efforts, market research and a renewed understanding of the importance of UC ANR in UC’s public service portfolio. One campaign to show the public where UC is in their daily lives included an ice cream truck that traveled the state handing out free frozen fruit juice bars labeled with fun facts about UC ANR’s connections to strawberries, citrus and other fruit flavors.
After a departmental reorganization in 2015, her responsibilities returned exclusively to marketing publications, where she oversaw the transfer of UC ANR’s book inventory to new warehouses. Twice.
For farmers, gardeners, naturalists and other UC ANR clientele who tend to work outdoors, Kintigh republished information from books onto spiral-bound flip cards, which are easier to work with in the field.
Recognizing an interest among Californians in raising chickens for fresh eggs, she suggested Maurice Pitesky, UC Cooperative Extension poultry specialist, author a book on backyard poultry. A decade later, “Doctor Cluck’s Backyard Chickens” will be added to UC ANR’s catalog this spring.
To build a repository of high-quality photographs that could be used in UC ANR materials, she guided a photographer to several sites around the state to shoot UC ANR research and extension activities.
“My happiest times at work have been spent in the field with advisors, specialists and volunteers,” Kintigh said.
She holds a master’s degree in arts management from the University of Akron and a bachelor’s degree in art history from University of Northern Colorado.
In retirement, Kintigh, who recently underwent double knee replacement, said she plans to take her “shiny new knees out on the trail and into the garden.”
Along with her contributions to raising the visibility of UC ANR, Kintigh will be remembered for her snappy dry wit, her dogged determination and commitment to the UC ANR mission.