Strategic Communication

Dr. Ansgar Zerfass is Professor and Chair of Strategic Communication at Leipzig University, Germany, and Professor of Communication and Leadership at BI Norwegian Business School, Oslo. He serves the global academic community as Consulting Editor of the International Journal of Strategic Communication, USA, and Editorial Board Member of Corporate Communication Review, a new global magazine that makes research insights freely accessible to practitioners.  Since 2007, he heads the study series European Communication Monitor which explores key trends in the field based on interviews with communication heads of the Top 300 companies. Professor Zerfass is Chairman of the Executive Board of the Academic Society for Management & Communication, a think tank that combines the commitment of 50 global enterprises and several universities in Germany, Austria and Switzerland to promote cutting-edge research and knowledge transfer in corporate communications, and member of #NORA, the Nordic Alliance for Communication & Management, a joint initiative of researchers and communicators in Norway, Finland, Sweden, and Denmark. 

According to Google Scholar, Ansgar Zerfass is the world’s most cited researcher in Strategic Communication, Corporate Communication, Public Relations, and Communication Management (h-index = 70; 2025). He has received more than 20 best paper awards and several personal awards, including the renowned Pathfinder Award from the Institute for Public Relations in New York. To date, he has published 44 books and more than 450 articles and study reports in several languages on his research areas of corporate communications, communication management and evaluation, digital communication, and international communication. Among them are The Routledge Handbook of Strategic Communication (English, Chinese), Communication Excellence – How to develop, manage and lead exceptional communications (English, Spanish, Chinese, Croatian, Slovenian) and the Handbook Corporate Communications (German) with more than 5 million downloads so far. More information and a complete list of publications are available at www.zerfass.de. 

Ansgar Zerfass studied business administration, communication science, and information systems at FAU University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Bavaria. He graduated in management with an acclaimed thesis on business ethics and gained a doctorate in business administration summa cum laude. Afterwards, he worked in practice for 10 years in the fields of corporate communications and political consulting. At the same time, he achieved a Habilitation (second doctorate) in communication science at FAU University. He works at Leipzig University since 2006, initially as a full Professor of Communication Management and since 2014 as Chair Professor for Strategic Communication, where he directs the Master Communication Management program, which is continuously ranked number one among all graduate programs in the field in Germany since 2007. 

Julia Huhn is a passionate communications professional with a strong expertise in strategy, operational excellence and transformation processes. She is a founding member of the Modern Leaders Initiative by PRCC HR Consulting. She has also held several positions at Henkel. In her last role at Henkel, she was the global head of corporate branding and communications strategy.

Christoph has helped inter­national organisations to align communications with corporate strategy for more than 25 years. His mission is to ensure that communication contributes to overall value creation. Christoph is a proven expert in developing communication strategies as well as in designing operating models for communication across disciplines and organisational borders.

Henning Stegmayer is Head of Communications & Public Affairs with Germany’s leading healthcare provider Sana Kliniken AG (Munich) since 2021. Prior to this he was Chief Communications Officer and Member of the Group Management Board with retail giant Schwarz Group (Lidl / Kaufland), responsible for communications, public affairs, brand management and sustainability. Before that, he headed the communications, public affairs and marketing team and was managing director with Universal Investment, a leading investment service platform with subsidiaries in eight central European countries. He started his career in the late 1990s as political advisor and staff member in the team of the Liberal Democrats’ party leader in the German parliament, followed by senior roles with leading comms consultancies ECC Kohtes Klewes (today: Ketchum) and Grayling. Henning completed a training as banker, holds a Master’s degree in political science and economic history and a senior CAS certificate in change and innovation management (HSG – University of St. Gallen).