Laurel Masten Cantor came to the Office of Communications in 1982 after working in secondary school education and publishing. She is a graduate of Wesleyan University, magna cum laude, with a triple major in English, studio art and education, as well as teaching certification K-12 in English and art. She holds an MALS (Master of Arts in Liberal Studies, in literature and art) from Wesleyan University. For five years she worked at Connecticut's Center for Creative Youth — a residential interdisciplinary program for gifted and talented high school students in drama, dance, visual arts, creative writing and music.

After a brief sojourn in publishing at Harcourt Brace Jovanovich in New York City, Laurel came to Princeton, where she has worked for more than 35 years as a editor, designer, art director, strategist and artist. She has always served as a pro bono consultant to many neighboring nonprofit organizations.

Her interests include producing original art on paper and on silk, theatrical costuming and edible artwork. Her specialty includes Van Gogh paintings, Tiffany stained glass and Picasso prints. Several of the silk banners she created to commemorate Princeton events flew around the Earth on Space Shuttle missions and now reside in the University archives.