David Demarest

Vice President for Public Affairs

As Stanford's senior public affairs official, David Demarest reports to the President of the university and is responsible for directing community initiatives, and overseeing communications, government relations and special events.

Demarest served four years as an assistant to President George H. W. Bush and member of the White House senior staff. As White House communications director, he worked directly with the president, the White House chief of staff and the Cabinet, and in that capacity managed a broad range of White House communications activities, including presidential speechwriting, public liaison, media relations and intergovernmental affairs.

Upon concluding his duties at the White House, Demarest served as executive vice president and director of corporate communications at BankAmerica Corp. and then as executive vice president for corporate relations and brand management at Visa International. He founded AspenLine Reputation Strategies, a specialized reputation management and communications consulting firm based in Sausalito, Calif. He participates as a senior lecturer at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business teaching "Political Communications: How Leaders Become Leaders," as well as an undergraduate course "Making Sense of Strategy." He also serves on the board of The Seminar, the George Bush Presidential Library Advisory Council, the Arthur W. Page Society, and the Public Affairs Council.

Lisa Lapin

Assistant Vice President, University Communications

As Stanford's senior communications official, Lisa Lapin oversees University Communications and serves as chief media spokesperson for the university. As the central strategic communications unit for one of the world’s leading research universities, the University Communications team works to advance the Stanford mission through communications programs that include the public relations and issues management; media relations and the Stanford News Service; Stanford Web home page and top-level websites; presidential and provost communications; internal and parent communications, crisis communications; campus visual identity and design; and digital platforms including social media and mobile media. University Communications also houses the daily Stanford Report, Stanford on iTunesU, and the Stanford Video production team. Lapin provides leadership to the university-wide Communications Working Group of more than 135 campus professionals.

Lapin is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, where she also chairs the CASE Commission on Communications and Marketing. She is a member of the Association of American Universities Public Affairs Council and is active in numerous communications organizations including the American Marketing Association and the communications advisory board of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group.

Prior to joining Stanford in 2008, Lapin headed communications at the University of California, Davis for nearly a decade, first as director of its News Service and then as assistant vice chancellor for university communications, where she led external and internal communications at the 30,000-student public research university.

Lapin spent 15 years as an award-winning reporter and editor at major daily newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times, San Jose Mercury News and The Sacramento Bee. She covered higher education, state and federal politics and environmental issues, and served as education editor and in newsroom management as city editor. Her work covering the Loma Prieta earthquake was part of a San Jose Mercury News Pulitzer Prize.

Lapin is currently a fifth-year student in the Stanford University Master of Liberal Arts program and has a BA in Print Journalism from the University of Southern California.

Ryan Adesnik

Assistant Vice President, Director of Federal Government Relations

Ryan Adesnik leads the university’s government affairs efforts in Washington, D.C., before Congress and the Executive Branch. Adesnik first came to Stanford in March 2003 to launch a government relations office at the School of Medicine, where he designed a program to further the school’s research and policy goals in Washington, D.C., and in Sacramento.

Adesnik joined Stanford from the Carmen Group, Inc. of Washington, D.C., a firm that represents corporations, teaching hospitals, private universities, nonprofit philanthropies and others before the federal government. He served as vice president of the organization and provided legislative counsel, political strategy and issue-oriented research. Previously, he held the position of senior legislative aide to Rep. Benjamin A. Gilman of New York, during Mr. Gilman’s tenure as Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Adesnik hold a Bachelors of Business Administration in Finance from Emory University and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Miami School of Law.

Jean McCown

Assistant Vice President, Director of Community Relations

Jean McCown focuses on Stanford's government and community relations efforts and initiatives at the city, county and state level. She maintains relationships with community-based organizations, government officials, local businesses and citizens to support effective communication and dialogue within the Stanford community and between Stanford and its neighbors.

McCown was a member of the Palo Alto City Council from 1990 to 1998 and served as mayor in 1993. She previously served on the Palo Alto Planning Commission and on regional transportation committees including the CalTrain Joint Powers Board and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. Before coming to Stanford in 2004, McCown was a partner at the law firm of Ritchey Fisher Whitman & Klein, where she focused on land use, environmental and real estate matters.

McCown serves on the boards of the Greenbelt Alliance and the Palo Alto Housing Corporation. She received the John Gardner Leadership Award in 1994 and the Athena Award in 2004. McCown received a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from the University of Michigan, a Masters degree in History from the University of Wisconsin and a Juris Doctorate from the University of California, Boalt Hall.

Elaine Enos

Executive Director, Office of Special Events & Protocol

Elaine Enos is Executive Director of the Office of Special Events & Protocol (OSEP). Elaine provides global event management analysis and services for major university events and ceremonies. The OSEP team also produces special events that involve visiting dignitaries and other complex presentations hosted by the university's President and Provost. Elaine regularly works with faculty, students and staff to ensure that campus events are consistent with the mission, image, reputation and policies of Stanford. She also provides general counsel and education regarding event design, logistical planning and diplomatic protocol.

Before joining Stanford, Elaine was Director of Attorney Administration and Corporate Events at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, a global law firm with more than 1,100 lawyers in North America, Europe and Asia. Among the achievements during her fifteen years there was the establishment of an official corporate events department, the development of a broad range of attorney/client training seminars and special high profile gatherings and community events, all contributing to the internal growth and external expansion of the firm.

Elaine has a bachelor's degree in Political Science/International Relations and a degree in Liberal Studies, with post-graduate studies in business and organizational planning. She joined the Stanford community in 2000.