The CEOs of Leadership: Clarity, Example and Optimism
| Date/Time: | Thursday, 03 Oct 2013 at 12:00 pm |
|---|---|
| Location: | Great Hall, Memorial Union |
| Cost: | Free |
| Contact: | |
| Phone: | 515-294-9934 |
| Channel: | Lecture Series |
| Categories: | Diversity Lectures Student activities |
| Actions: | Download iCal/vCal | Email Reminder |
In 2008, Karen Hughes joined Burson-Marsteller, a leading global public relations and communications firm, and currently serves as worldwide vice chair. She is a trusted counselor to corporate, nonprofit and political leaders providing strategic communications, corporate positioning and messaging advice. She has worked with clients as diverse as AVON Products, Inc., Ford, Johnson & Johnson, Texas Speaker of the House Joe Straus, LIVESTRONG and the George W. Bush Presidential Center.
Hughes reached out on behalf of the United States to audiences across the world as Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs from 2005 to 2007. During that time she dramatically reshaped the State Department's communications efforts.
From 2001 to 2002, Hughes served as Counselor to the President, a title reflective of her role as strategic advisor to President George W. Bush. She worked on a range of domestic and foreign policy issues and led the White House Offices of Communications, Press Secretary, Media Affairs and Speechwriting.
Hughes was President Bush's Communications Director in 2000, helping lead his successful presidential campaign, and served as a senior communications strategist on his 2004 campaign. She served as Director of Communications in the Texas Governor's office (1995-1999) and directed communications during Governor Bush's successful gubernatorial campaigns in 1994 and 1998.
Hughes was Executive Director of the Texas Republican Party from 1992 until 1994 and served as a consultant and frequent spokesman for the Party throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s. She was the Director of Media Relations for Halcyon Associates, a Dallas-based public relations firm, from 1987 until 1990. She has worked on numerous political, issue and bond campaigns in Dallas and was Texas press coordinator for the Reagan-Bush '84 campaign.
Hughes began her career as a journalist, working as a television reporter for KXAS-TV (NBC affiliate) in Dallas-Fort Worth from 1977 until 1984. She is the author of "Ten Minutes from Normal," a book about working for President Bush and her decision to leave the White House to return with her family to Texas in 2002. Hughes is a Phi Beta Kappa and received a Bachelor of Arts in English and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Journalism from Southern Methodist University in 1977.