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Geoff Morrell (spokesperson)

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Geoff Morrell
Morrell gives a briefing at the Pentagon on March 25, 2009.
Born1968 (age 55–56)
United States
EducationThe Lawrenceville School
Alma materGeorgetown University
Columbia University
Occupationchief corporate affairs officer
Years active1992–present
Pentagon Press Secretary/Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs
In office
2007–2011
PresidentGeorge W. Bush
Barack Obama
ABC News White House Correspondent
In office
2000–2007

Geoffrey S. Morrell (born November 1968) is the president of Global Strategy & Communications at Teneo, a public relations and advisory firm.[1] In 2022, he was the Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at Disney for three months before resigning.[2] He served as the Executive Vice President of Communications and Advocacy at BP from 2011 to 2021.[3][4][5] From 2007 to 2011, he was the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs and the press secretary for the U.S. Department of Defense.[6][7]

Early life and education

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Morrell graduated from the Lawrenceville School in 1987,[8] then earned a bachelor's degree in 1991 from Georgetown University and a master's degree in journalism in 1992 from Columbia University.[7]

Professional career

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Morrell began his reporting career in 1992 at KATV-TV in Little Rock, Arkansas, covering the presidential campaign of Bill Clinton. He worked as a reporter at WSET-TV in Lynchburg/Roanoke in 1994; at KSAZ-TV in Phoenix in 1995; and at WBBM-TV in Chicago in 1996.[7] While working as for WBBM-TV, Morrell played himself in the 1998 movie The Negotiator.[9]

Morrell left WBBM-TV in early 2000 and joined ABC News, working in the network's Chicago and Washington, D.C., bureaus. He was an ABC White House television correspondent for four years.[10] In 2007, Morrell resigned from ABC to be appointed the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, where he served under two presidents.[7] Morrell resigned upon Secretary Robert Gates' retirement in July 2011 and was replaced by George E. Little.

In September 2011, Morrell joined BP as a vice-president and the company's head of U.S. communications. Two years later, he became the company's senior vice president of U.S. communications and external affairs;[11] he was in charge of government and media relations, internal communications, community affairs and philanthropy in the U.S.[12]

In 2017, he moved to London to become head of group communications and external affairs, leading BP's global government media relations, internal communications, and community affairs.[13][14][15] In 2020, Morrell was appointed Executive Vice President of Communications and Advocacy at BP.[5]

In January 2022, Morrell left BP to oversee “communications, government relations, public policy, philanthropy and environmental issues” as Disney's Chief Corporate Affairs Officer.[2][16][17][18] During his tenure, Disney had become embroiled in a dispute with Florida's Governor Ron DeSantis and the Florida laws regarding parental educational rights and teaching of gender identity: Florida had enacted a law requiring the termination of Disney's special self-governing tax and improvement district that governed 25,000 acres of Disney World.[19] Morell resigned from Disney on April 29, 2022, saying that "for a number of reasons it is not the right fit" and that he would "pursue other opportunities".[20] During his three-month stint at Disney, he was paid over $10 million.[21]

References

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  1. ^ Larkin, Ewan (2023-01-04). "Disney, BP alum Geoff Morrell lands at Teneo". PRWeek. Retrieved 2023-01-04.
  2. ^ a b Ellingson, Annlee (3 January 2022). "10 Los Angeles business people to watch in 2022". The Business Journals. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  3. ^ "BP Annual Report and Form 20-F 2020" (PDF). BP. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  4. ^ Hickman, Arvind (2 June 2020). "The PR Show: How comms is helping BP handle COVID-19 and fulfil its net zero ambition". PRWeek. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
  5. ^ a b "Geoff Morrell, BP PLC: Profile and Biography". Bloomberg Markets. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  6. ^ Morrell, Geoff (June 27, 2011). "U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Transcript". U.S. Department of Defense. Archived from the original on 14 December 2013. Retrieved 18 September 2013. Thanks for coming to my final briefing
  7. ^ a b c d "Geoff S. Morrell Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs Pentagon Press Secretary". U.S. Department of Defense. Archived from the original on 14 December 2013. Retrieved 18 September 2013. Geoff Morrell was named Pentagon Press Secretary on June 18, 2007... Morrell served as a White House correspondent for ABC News, where he worked for seven years...Morrell graduated with a B.A. in Government from Georgetown University in 1991. The following year he received a M.S. from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism
  8. ^ "NOTABLE ALUMNI". The Lawrenceville School. Archived from the original on November 9, 2016. Retrieved October 16, 2014.
  9. ^ Gizbert, Richard (June 21, 2007). "London Calling: Geoff Morrell Makes It Official". Huffingtonpost. Retrieved 18 September 2013. ...some of you may remember Geoff Morrell from the big screen. He did one of those news reporter cameos in The Negotiator
  10. ^ American Journalism Review Archived 2013-07-31 at the Wayback Machine, "On the Inside Looking Out" by Jamie McIntyre, February/March 2009
  11. ^ Tau, Byron; Andrea Drusch; Anna Palmer (September 20, 2013). "BP ups Morrell, reorganizes PR/GR — Kinzel flies to Delta — Francis joins JDA frontline — AEA goes after Begich, Hagan on carbon taxes". Politico. Retrieved 18 September 2013. Geoff Morrell has been promoted to senior vice president in charge of the newly formed U.S. Communications & External Affairs team
  12. ^ Kiefer, Brittaney (6 September 2013). "Morrell to lead merged BP comms, government affairs". PRWeek. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  13. ^ Costa, Robert (6 June 2017). "Trump, furious and frustrated, gears up to punch back at Comey testimony". The Washington Post. Retrieved 30 May 2018. BP announced last month that Morrell would be moving to London this summer..
  14. ^ "Executive Profile Geoff Morrell". Bloomberg. 2017. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
  15. ^ Czarnecki, Sean (18 May 2017). "BP promotes Geoff Morrell to group head of comms, external affairs". PR Week. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
  16. ^ Barnes, Brooks (7 December 2021). "Disney hires Geoff Morrell, a BP executive, as its corporate affairs chief". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
  17. ^ Weprin, Kim Masters,Alex; Masters, Kim; Weprin, Alex (7 December 2021). "Disney to Tap BP Exec and Former ABC News Correspondent Geoff Morrell as PR Chief (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 21 December 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  18. ^ "Disney names former Pentagon press secretary to newly created job". Axios. 7 December 2021. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
  19. ^ Call, James (2022-04-22). "It's law: In just days, Ron DeSantis dismantles Disney's special tax district operating since 1967". Florida Today (USA Today Network/Tallahassee Democrat). Retrieved 2022-04-30.
  20. ^ Barnes, Brooks (2022-04-29). "Disney's top communications executive is out after less than four months". The New York Times. Retrieved 2022-04-30.
  21. ^ "Disney exec paid equivalent of $3.4 million a month for brief 3-month stint". Fortune. Retrieved 2023-01-24.
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