Michael Schoenfeld is the chief communications and government relations officer for Duke University in Durham, NC. He serves as Duke’s principal spokesperson and counselor to the president and trustees on public affairs, issues and crisis management, media relations, marketing, branding and advocacy. He is also a visiting professor of the practice of journalism and public policy at Duke’s Sanford School of Public Policy, where he teaches a course on media and politics.

As the chief external affairs strategist, he directs Duke’s efforts to connect with local, regional, national and global audiences, represents the university before a wide range of constituencies, leads messaging and communications across the academic, health care and athletics units, and oversees Duke’s Washington, DC, center. One of the world’s leading research universities, Duke has 15,000 students, more than 40,000 employees, a regional health care network with three hospitals and academic programs in dozens of countries around the world.