Duke Leadership Academy Scholars Profile

Karen Kemp

Title: Assistant Dean for Communications & Marketing
Location:
Senior Management Area: Sanford School of Public Policy
Class Year: 2014

Bio:
Karen Kemp is Assistant Dean for Communications and Marketing at Duke University's Sanford School of Public Policy where she oversees strategic communications, media relations, websites, publications, program marketing, social media, and special events. She began work at Duke in 2004 as communications director of the Sanford Institute. Previously she worked as communications director at the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh, and was a newspaper editor and reporter in Florida, Tennessee, and North Carolina.

Karen earned an MA in journalism and mass communications at UNC, Chapel Hill, where her thesis research investigated media influence on public perceptions of environmental risks. She is a Miami native and received her BA in mass communications from the University of South Florida. She is a soccer player and fan, yoga practitioner, hiker, and nature lover.