Angela Paik Schaeffer has joined the Trinity College community as vice president for communications and marketing. Reporting to the president, Schaeffer, who arrived at Trinity in January, is responsible for oversight and management of communications, messaging, marketing, and branding activity for the College.
Schaeffer comes to Trinity from Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, where she served as chief communications officer. In a September 2016 announcement to the Trinity community about Schaeffer’s appointment, Trinity President Joanne Berger-Sweeney wrote, “She has more than 15 years of progressive responsibility in higher education and broad and deep expertise in all aspects of communications, including those for alumni relations, development, and recruitment, as well as institutional branding, media relations, and crisis communications.”
Berger-Sweeney noted that Schaeffer’s references highlighted her strategic thinking, collaborative style, and strong work ethic. The announcement also quoted members of the Trinity search committee, who said that Schaeffer conveyed “her genuine interest in Hartford and the benefits of our urban setting” and that she had “already begun to think about how to partner creatively with students, faculty, alumni, and staff.”
Prior to her position at Williams, Schaeffer spent 10 years at the Johns Hopkins University Zanvyl Krieger School of Arts & Sciences, the last several as director of communications and marketing. She has taught journalism courses at University of Maryland University College, and she spent the first several years of her career as a newspaper reporter, first at The Philadelphia Inquirer and then at The (Raleigh) News & Observer and The Washington Post.
Schaeffer said, “I’m excited to partner with the Trinity community in sharing its story with the world and deeply inspired to help this wonderful college realize its aspirations.”
Schaeffer holds a B.A. from Dickinson College and an M.S. from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. She has served as a member of the Public Issues Committee of the Consortium on Financing Higher Education and the Communications Committee of the Annapolis Group.