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Chapman named vice president for public affairs and University relations
Michael E. Chapman, currently director of communications and public affairs at New York University Medical Center, has been appointed vice president for public affairs and University relations at Brown University. Chapman begins his duties in Providence July 1, 2004. PROVIDENCE, R.I. —Brown University President Ruth J. Simmons today announced the appointment of Michael E. Chapman as the University’s vice president for public affairs and University relations. He will assume this role on July 1, 2004. 
Chapman, who currently serves as director of communications and public affairs at New York University Medical Center, will be responsible for the development and implementation of a strategic communications plan for Brown and will oversee the University’s public affairs and media relations. He will also direct Brown’s relations with federal, state and local governments, including the University’s relations with the State of Rhode Island, City of Providence and the neighboring communities. As vice president, Chapman will report directly to Simmons. “Michael Chapman will be a valuable addition to the leadership team at Brown. He will assume a position that is critically important to the University at a time when we have so much to communicate about the strides the University is making in a wide range of areas,” Simmons said. “His knowledge and experience in communications, media relations, government affairs and higher education make him particularly well suited for this challenging role.” Chapman brings to Brown a distinguished career in communications and public service. Since 2001, he has served as the senior communications official at New York University Medical Center, a $1.2-billion academic medical center in Manhattan that is composed of New York University’s School of Medicine, Tisch Hospital, and the Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine. Under his leadership, the medical center received expanded national media coverage of its scientific research and clinical accomplishments on major medical issues. Chapman also directed the first strategic advertising campaign in the medical center’s history, implemented significant improvements to the institution’s flagship publications, and served as the senior communications advisor and speechwriter for the medical center’s dean and chief executive officer. Prior to joining New York University Medical Center, Chapman served as director of communications for the Peace Corps at the agency’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. Over the course of his six years at the Peace Corps (1994-2001), Chapman led national communications strategies that boosted public awareness about the Peace Corps and resulted in the highest number of Peace Corps volunteers recruited in 25 years, as well as the most diverse corps in the agency’s history. Chapman also was counselor to the director of the Peace Corps and the agency’s chief speechwriter. “I am enormously honored and very proud to join the outstanding team that President Simmons has assembled at Brown University and to become an active member of the Providence community,” Chapman said. “Brown is one of our country’s finest institutions of higher education, one with a long history of achievement as a research university and a tradition of excellence in undergraduate and graduate education. Under President Simmons’ leadership, Brown has a very bright and exciting future. I look forward to working to advance the University’s strong agenda locally and nationally.” Chapman also brings to Brown extensive experience in government affairs. He served as a legislative assistant to U.S. Rep. Dave McCurdy, as deputy foreign policy director of the Clinton/Gore Presidential Campaign, and as deputy assistant secretary for legislative affairs at the U.S. Department of State. Chapman received his B.A. in political science and history from the University of Oklahoma in 1983, his M.A. in Soviet and East European studies from the University of Kansas in 1987, and his law degree from Georgetown University in 1997. He is married to Kristen Chapman, an assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York. They have a one-year-old son, William. ###### News Service Home | Top of File | e-Subscribe | Brown Home Page | ||||