Erin Callihan

An award-winning higher education marketing and communications leader, Erin Callihan leverages emerging technologies to drive engagement, storytelling, and fundraising success. As Assistant Vice President, Strategic Marketing & Campaign Communications at New York University, she oversees strategic marketing, development and campaign communications, and crisis response, shaping initiatives to connect and engage NYU’s 700,000+ alumni and donors across 183 countries. Well-versed in GenAI strategy, Erin has built custom AI tools, developed GenAI training programs, and guided teams in leveraging AI to boost productivity, originality, and impact. A firm believer in AI’s transformative power in higher ed, she is passionate about helping digital professionals reclaim their time and unlock creativity with practical GenAI tools and strategies. Her career spans key leadership roles across higher ed admissions, student life, alumni relations, development, and digital experience, including spearheading NYU Abu Dhabi’s groundbreaking digital recruitment strategy—one of the most successful in higher education. Twice tasked with creating a new office to improve the student experience, she founded NYU’s nationally recognized Office of Interactive Media in 2012, which launched HashtagNYU—a social media brand that shared the NYU story with 60,000 students across six continents. In 2018, she established the Office of Student UX, Technology, and Engagement to further enhance student digital experiences and engagement. Her expertise in UX, technology-driven engagement, data-informed strategies, and multi-platform storytelling has earned her 5 CASE and 5 NASPA Excellence Awards, as well as AMA's Higher Education Marketer of the Year Award and HighEdWeb's (now Digital Collegium) coveted Red Stapler Award. In addition to her work in higher education, Erin is a skilled photographer whose portfolio includes global icons such as President Bill Clinton, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Roger Federer, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Jay-Z, and Alec Baldwin. She holds a J.D. from Brooklyn Law School, an M.S. in digital imaging and 3D design from NYU, and a B.A. in journalism and liberal studies from Pace University. She also holds multiple AI-related certifications, from institutions such as Harvard, NYU, UNESCO, and Berkeley Law.