Vice President for External Affairs

Jeff Perez
Vice President for External Affairs
Phone: (843) 953-6965
Fax: (843) 953-6767
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L. Jeffrey Perez, vice president for external affairs, oversees an office responsible for media relations, public affairs, marketing, publications, photography, and the college web site. Dr. Perez also acts as the chief spokesman for The Citadel, and is the primary point of contact for external constituencies.

Previously he served as executive director of communications and government affairs at Shawnee State University. His responsibilities included media and community relations. He was spokesman for Shawnee State and coordinated the university's government relations.

Prior to Shawnee State University, Perez served as director of public affairs for the Charter Schools Institute of the State University of New York, where he worked with reporters throughout New York and the United States, as well as providing professional support to charter schools.

Perez came to the Charter Schools Institute after his work as director of communication services at the headquarters of the State University of New York, which, with 64 campuses and 400,000 students, is the largest college system in the United States. In this position, he edited the State University Journal and oversaw speechwriting for the chancellor and SUNY Board of Trustees. He also administered the committees of the trustees, and sat on several campus teams as part of the system-wide mission review initiative.

Previously Perez had served as director of research and as a government relations representative for the New York State School Boards Association, representing the interests of New York's 5,000 school board members before the governor, the state legislature and the Board of Regents.

Perez began his career as a legislative analyst in the New York State Assembly under Republican leader Clarence "Rapp" Rappleyea. He counseled legislators on issues relating to K-12 and higher education, drafted legislation, and served as liaison to constituency groups.

Perez holds a Ph.D. in American History from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. During his graduate work he served as an adjunct professor of American History at Thomas Nelson Community College in Hampton, Virginia.

In addition to his Ph.D., Perez holds a master's degree from Binghamton University in New York and a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service degree from Georgetown University.

Click here to visit the web page for the Office of External Affairs