University Communications Overview: 2022

Shailagh Murray, Executive Vice President of Public Affairs and Ben Chang, Vice President for Communications discuss University priorities strategies and plans for Columbia Communications. This workshop took place on September, 16 2022.

Shailagh Murray was appointed executive vice president for public affairs in September 2018. She oversees the Office of Communications and Public Affairs and the Office of Government and Community Affairs. She spent nearly six years shaping communications strategy inside the Obama White House, most recently serving as Senior Advisor to President Obama from 2015 to 2017. Previously, she was Vice President Biden’s deputy chief of staff and communications director. Prior to that, she worked as a journalist for The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post. She has a BA in humanities from University of Missouri-Columbia and a Masters in Journalism from Northwestern University.

Ben Chang is the vice president for communications and spokesperson for Columbia University. He joined Columbia from Princeton University, where he served as deputy vice president for communications and university spokesperson. Ben brings with him experience grounded in public service as well as the private sector. For almost two decades, Ben was a U.S. Foreign Service Officer, with postings overseas and domestically, including as the director for press and communications for the National Security Council in the White House under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama and as deputy spokesman for the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. He also served as the associate administrator for communications and public liaison at the Small Business Administration. Before entering higher education, Ben was a managing director in the public affairs and crisis practice of global public relations firm Burson-Marsteller. He is currently a member of the Communications Advisory Board for the American Talent Initiative, co-chair of the Rising Leaders Council for the Meridian International Center, and a member of the board of directors for the Council for a Livable World. Ben is a graduate of the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.