Profile

Professional career

• since 12/2014
  Professor and Chair of Strategic Communication, Leipzig University
• since 01/2013
  Professor of Communication and Leadership, BI Norwegian Business School, Oslo
• since 06/2018
  Guest professor and lecturer, Corporate Communication Centre, RSM Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University
• 07/2006 - 09/2014
  Professor of Communication Management, Leipzig University
• 02/2006 - 06/2006
  Honorary lecturer for Communication Studies, University Erlangen-Nuremberg
• 01/2001 - 06/2006
  Member of the Executive Board, MFG Medienentwicklung Baden-Württemberg GmbH, Competence Center for Innovation Management, Information Technology and Media Development of the State Government, Stuttgart
• 11/1996 - 12/2000
  Head of Communication and Digital Media, Team lead, MFG Medienentwicklung Baden-Württemberg GmbH, Stuttgart
• 11/1996 - 12/2002
  Managing Partner and Editor-in-chief, Internet portal pr-guide.de GbR, Frankfurt/Main
• 12/1990 - 10/1996
  Research associate, Chair of Strategic Management, Institute für Business Administration, University Erlangen-Nuremberg
• 07/1984 - 09/1985
  Military Service, German Federal Army - Supplies Regiment 210, Ulm and Heidenheim a.H.

Education

• 07/2004 - 12/2005
  Habilitation (Second Ph.D.) in Communication Studies, University Erlangen-Nuremberg (Venia Legendi, Dec. 2005: Communication Science, esp. Corporate Communications and New Media) - Mentor: Prod. Dr. Dr. h.c. Winfried Schulz
• 10/1990 - 11/1995
  Doctoral dissertation in Management Studies, University Erlangen-Nuremberg (Graduation, Nov. 1995: summa cum laude 1.00) - Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Horst Steinmann
• 11/1985 - 11/1990
  Academic studies in business administration with three majors in strategic management (Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Horst Steinmann), information systems (Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Peter Mertens) and communication studies (Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Winfried Schulz)
• 09/1975 - 06/1984
  Secondary school education, Platen-Gymnasium, Ansbach, Mittelfranken - Graduation 1984

Panel Memberships

• since 01/2011
  Editor, International Journal of Strategic Communication, Routledge (Taylor & Francis), Philadelphia, USA
• since 01/2022
  Chairman of the Executive Board, Academic Society for Management & Communication
• 05/2021 - 05/2023
  Board member and Chair of the Public Relations Division, International Public Relations Association (ICA), Washington, D.C.
• 01/2014 - 12/2015
  President, European Public Relations and Education Association (EUPRERA), Brussels
• since 03/2000
  Academic Partner and Co-Founder, Nordic Association for Communication & Management (NORA), Oslo
• since 06/2008
  Academic Advisor and Co-Founder, Austrian Society for Communication and Reputation (KomRep), Vienna
• since 01/2017
  Member of the Academic Committee, International Corporate Communication Hub, Milan, Italy
• since 10/2015
  Member the Academic Advisory Group, AMEC Association for the Measurement and Evaluation of Communication, London
• since 01/0217
  Head of the Jury, Integrated Communication Award, F.A.Z.-Institut, Frankfurt/Main
• 01/2011 - 02/2016
  Head of the Jury, German PR Award, German Public Relations Society (DPRG), Berlin

Key research topics of Professor Zerfaß are strategic communication, corporate communications, management and measurement of communication departments and programs, digital communication, and international communication.

Current projects include the analysis and optimization of business models for communication departments; modeling and managing the digital infrastructure for corporate communications; and the interdisciplinary analysis of societal, business and technological trends for communication management in the project "Communications Trend Radar".

Moreover, the codification of international knowledge for corporate communications is being driven by editing several handbooks in German, English and Chinese.

• Digital Infrastructures and CommTech in Corporate Communications

  Zerfaß, Ansgar

  Duration: 09/2020 – ongoing

  Involved organisational units of Leipzig University: Strategische Kommunikation
  show details
• Communications Trend Radar

  Zerfaß, Ansgar

  Duration: 02/2020 – 03/2024

  Funded by: Stiftungen Inland

  Involved organisational units of Leipzig University: Strategische Kommunikation
  show details
• Handbook series on corporate communications

  Zerfaß, Ansgar

  Duration: 06/2017 – 03/2022

  Involved organisational units of Leipzig University: Strategische Kommunikation; Kommunikationswissenschaft; Kommunikationsmanagement
  show details
• Global Communication Monitor

  Zerfaß, Ansgar

  Duration: 10/2013 – ongoing

  Funded by: Internationale Organisationen (ohne EU)

  Involved organisational units of Leipzig University: Strategische Kommunikation
  show details
• Business Models for Communications

  Zerfaß, Ansgar

  Duration: 10/2020 – ongoing

  Involved organisational units of Leipzig University: Strategische Kommunikation
  show details

more projects

• Zerfaß, A.; Volk, S. C.

  Toolbox Kommunikationsmanagement. Denkwerkzeuge und Instrumente für die Steuerung der Unternehmenskommunikation

  Wiesbaden: Springer Gabler. 2019.

  DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-24258-9
  show details
• Zerfaß, A.; Verčič, D.; Nothhaft, H.; Werder, K. P.

  Strategic communication: Defining the field and its contribution to research and practice

  International Journal of Strategic Communication. 2018. 12 (4). pp. 487–505.

  DOI: 10.1080/1553118X.2018.1493485
  show details
• Brockhaus, J.; Buhmann, A.; Zerfaß, A.

  Digitalization in corporate communications: understanding the emergence and consequences of CommTech and digital infrastructure

  Corporate Communications: An International Journal. 2023. 28 (2). pp. 274–292.

  DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/CCIJ-03-2022-0035
  show details
• Zerfaß, A.; Link, J.

  Communication management: structures, processes, and business models for value creation through corporate communications

  In: Heide, M.; Falkheimer, J. (Eds.)

  Research Handbook on Strategic Communication. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar. 2022. pp. 237–258.

  ISBN: 978 1 80037 988 6
  show details
• Zerfaß, A.; Stieglitz, S.; Clausen, S.; Ziegele, D. A.; Berger, K.

  Communications Trend Radar 2023. State revival, scarcity management, unimagination, augmented workflows & parallel worlds Communication Insights, Issue 17)

  Academic Society for Management & Communication. Leipzig. 2023.
  show details

more publications

• Andere herausragende Auszeichnungen: Distinguished Scholar in Public Relations

  Zerfaß, Ansgar (Strategische Kommunikation)

  awarded in 2018 by European Public Relations Education and Research Association, Brussels.
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• Andere herausragende Auszeichnungen: Pathfinder Award

  Zerfaß, Ansgar (Strategische Kommunikation)

  awarded in 2014 by Institute for Public Relations, New York.
  show details
• Andere herausragende Auszeichnungen: Jackson Jackson & Wagner Behavioral Science Award

  Zerfaß, Ansgar (Strategische Kommunikation)

  awarded in 2016 by Public Relations Society of America, Atlanta.
  show details
• Andere herausragende Auszeichnungen: Ludwig-Schunk-Preis für Wirtschaftswissenschaften

  Zerfaß, Ansgar (Strategische Kommunikation)

  awarded in 1997 by Universität Gießen.
  show details
• Publikationspreis: Koichi Yamamura International Strategic Communication Award

  Zerfaß, Ansgar (Strategische Kommunikation)

  awarded in 2023 by International Public Relations Research Conference, Orlando, USA.
  show details

more awards

• Internationale Fachkonferenz in San Diego, CA, USA

  Future directions of Strategic Communication: Towards the second decade of an emerging field

  Strategische Kommunikation

  Event Organiser: Zerfaß, Ansgar; Verčič, Dejan; Nothhaft, Howard; Werder, Kelly P.

  25/05/2017
  show details
• Tagung, Konferenz

  100 Jahre Kommunikationswissenschaft in Deutschland: Von einem Spezialfach zur Integrationsdisziplin

  Institut für Kommunikations- und Medienwissenschaft

  Event Organiser: Stiehler, Hans-Jörg; Beiler, Markus; Wolf, Cornelia; Bigl, Benjamin; Döveling, Katrin; Zerfaß, Ansgar; Marzahl, Lisa

  30/03/2016 – 01/04/2016
  show details

more events

Professor Zerfass heads the master's program in Communication Management at Leipzig University, where he teaches courses on business management, managing and organizing the communication function, management tools in corporate communications, and research seminars on a wide range of topics. He also works internationally in executive education, for example at RSM Rotterdam School of Management at Erasmus University, and at BI Norwegian Business School, Oslo, Norway,

One focus of his work is the promotion of students and doctoral candidates through innovative, theoretically sound, and practically relevant study projects and theses. Awards for the best master's thesis or doctoral dissertation in the field of communication management and PR in Germany, Europe or globally have already gone to Leipzig 30 times. In addition, there are awards for students' contributions at scientific conferences or for creative projects, such as the DPRG Junior Award. This is the best in the discipline in Europe and testifies to the quality of the education at Leipzig University.