Kim Broekhuizen, Director
(734) 763-3158
kelger@umich.edu
Media inquiries: public.affairs@umich.edu

Main areas of responsibility are emergency preparedness, major initiatives, legal and reputational issues.

Kim serves as the primary public spokesperson for the university, and leads the university’s issues management team. Kim has been a member of the Public Affairs team for more than 25 years. She serves as the director of public affairs and as a public spokesperson for the university. In her role, she handles various projects on behalf of the vice president for communications, assists university leaders and campus units with a range of support from media preparation to communication planning. Kim graduated from Eastern Michigan University with a degree in journalism. Outside of work, she spends much of her time on the soccer fields with her children. She also enjoys traveling and spending time outdoors with her family.

Dana Elger, Communications Manager
(734) 615-2486
delger@umich.edu

Main areas of responsibility are the U-M strategic visioning process, sexual misconduct, campus safety and emergency preparedness.

Dana joined the Public Affairs team in 2009. As a communications manager of strategic initiatives, she assists leadership and campus units with a range of support from media preparation and the development of talking points to communication planning and the launching of initiatives. She earned her bachelor’s degree in communications with a minor in marketing from Oakland University. Prior to U-M, she worked as an account associate at Doner Advertising in Southfield. She enjoys spending time outdoors, traveling and relaxing with her family.

Rick Fitzgerald, Associate Vice President for Public Affairs
(734) 615-1563
rickfitz@umich.edu
Media inquiries: public.affairs@umich.edu

Rick Fitzgerald is associate vice president of Public Affairs and Internal Communications at the University of Michigan. He also serves as the official spokesperson for the university. The Public Affairs team is a professional staff of six that handles crisis communications for the university, media inquiries for the central administration and communications planning for major university initiatives. The Internal Communications team is a staff of five dedicated to the University Record, the official news source for the campus community. It publishes online daily, pushes out a daily email newsletter and offers a print edition weekly.

Rick joined the Public Affairs staff in 2009 after a long career in the news business, most of it with The Ann Arbor News. While at The News he directed the newspaper’s local news coverage, had the opportunity to launch two weekly newspapers and wrote a weekly column for more than a decade. He was named associate director of public affairs in 2012 and in 2014 was named director. He graduated from Central Michigan University with a degree in journalism and English. In 2014 he completed a master of science in administration degree, also from CMU.

Don Jordan, Senior Public Affairs Representative
(734) 647-8992
dcjordan@umich.edu

Main areas of responsibility are university budget, free speech issues, and academic human resources and labor relations.

Since joining the Public Affairs staff in 2018, Don has worked to support the communications efforts for a wide range of university functions and initiatives, including enrollment management, budgetary and financial matters and U-M’s work in Detroit. He also works with university leaders to craft key executive communications. He previously worked in marketing and communications for the U-M Office of Enrollment Management. Prior to joining U-M, Don reported for a daily newspaper, taught high school journalism and English, and served as the communications manager for a Detroit-based nonprofit. He has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Michigan State University and lives in Northville with his wife, Jessica, and two daughters, Natalie and Esme.

Lauren Love, Senior Public Affairs Representative
(734) 615-2447
lovelaur@umich.edu

Main areas of responsibility are enrollment management, affordability and student mental health.

Lauren comes to Public Affairs with more than a decade of strategic communication and public relations experience. She began her career at the university in Michigan Medicine’s Department of Communication and covered several departments, including gastroenterology, family medicine and the medical school. Before U-M, Lauren was a communications specialist at the University of Notre Dame Law School and before that she served as the press secretary for Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr.’s Rainbow PUSH Coalition in Chicago. Lauren graduated from Michigan State University with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. She later earned a master of science in public policy from DePaul University.

Ashley Miller, Senior Administrative Assistant
(734) 936-5190
ashlb@umich.edu

Main areas of responsibility are calendar and daily support to the assistant vice president and associate director for Public Affairs, Student assistant supervision, daily news clips, degree/student status verification and memorabilia requests.

Ashley joined the university in an administrative support role in 2017, and joined the Public Affairs team in 2020. She graduated with her bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Michigan, where she fell in love with the city of Ann Arbor and the university. Before moving back to Ann Arbor, she provided support as an assistant property manager at a large property management company in Chicago, IL. In her spare time, she enjoys camping and hiking all over the state of Michigan with her husband and dog.

Hanna Quinlan, Intermediate Public Affairs Representative
(734)-647-0473
hquinlan@umich.edu

Main areas of responsibility are facilities, construction and rankings.

Hanna joined the Public Affairs team in 2016 after earning a B.A.A. in communication with a minor in broadcast and cinematic arts from Central Michigan University. She jumped to her current role in 2019. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time on the sandy shores of Lake Michigan, where she was born and raised.

Ann Zaniewski, Senior Public Affairs Representative
zaniewsk@umich.edu

Ann joined the Public Affairs team in 2022. She has two decades of professional communications experience, working most recently as a staff writer for the University Record. Prior to coming to U-M in 2019, she covered education, government, the justice system and many other topics as an Emmy Award-winning journalist for the Detroit Free Press. She previously worked as a journalist for The Oakland Press. She is a graduate of Oakland University.

Jeffrey Bleiler, University Record Associate Editor
(734) 764-6825
jbleiler@umich.edu

Jeff joined the Record in 2019 — assisting with story planning, editing and production of its print, online and daily email editions — after a lengthy career in journalism and communications, mostly with the Jackson Citizen Patriot as a sports reporter, copy editor and news/sports leader, and with MLive Media Group as a news and local sports leader. He earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Eastern Michigan University.

Steve Culver, University Record Graphic Designer
(734)-764-7484
stevecul@umich.edu

Steve brings more than 30 years of experience in newspaper design and production to the Record, which he joined in 2014. As production coordinator Steve is responsible for the newspaper’s graphic design and oversees printing and distribution. Previously, he helped students at The Michigan Daily and Monroe Street Journal produce their publications. Steve also has published a magazine for Southeast Michigan’s LGBT community since 1990.

James Iseler, University Record Editor
(734)-647-3099
jiseler@umich.edu

Jamie has been with The University Record since 2009. As editor, he oversees the production of the Record’s weekly print edition, website and daily email newsletter. Prior to joining U-M, Jamie spent more than 30 years working for weekly and daily newspapers, most of that time as a reporter, editor and copy editor at the Jackson Citizen Patriot. He has a bachelor’s degree in journalism and political science from Central Michigan University.

Katie Kelton, Staff Writer
734-764-4266
kkelton@umich.edu

Katie joined the Record in 2022 and writes news and feature stories. She graduated from Texas Christian University with a bachelor’s degree in English and a minor in Spanish. She previously worked with D Magazine, TCU Magazine, the Oxford University Press and Texas Monthly. Prior to U-M, she was Fulbright scholar teaching English in Madrid, Spain.

Dirk Milliman, Advertising Sales Representative
734-764-4342
dirkmill@umich.edu

A graduate of Central Michigan University with a degree in journalism, Dirk has been working in Michigan media for nearly 40 years, owning and managing newspapers, shopping guides and digital media sites. He is a past president of the Michigan Press Association and remains active with the MPA Foundation. His wife, Penelope, is a professional photographer. They have two children and three  grandchildren.