Director of Executive Communications
Charles is a graduate of U-M’s LSA program, earning a B.A. in History in 1993, which he followed with an M.S. in Biology from Wayne State University in 1995.
After a brief stint teaching and tutoring at Oakland Community College – and seeing a few stories published on extreme sports such as skydiving and spelunking – Charles moved to Washington D.C. where he spent two decades in communications, largely focused on science and technology policy.
During his D.C. tenure, Charles served as a speechwriter for the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Deputy Administrator for NASA, two secretaries of Energy, the President of Georgetown University and numerous other senior officials. He also served as an award-winning editorial writer for The Washington Times, earned an MPS in Public Relations and Corporate Communications from Georgetown in 2012, and led the Energy Department’s emergency response communications during the 2017 hurricane season.
Delighted to return to his alma mater, Charles resides in Ann Arbor, runs marathons for ‘fun’ and enjoys accidental adventures in awesome Alaska.