COL Jonathan Hoffman serves as the Vice President for Communications and Marketing at The Citadel. Prior to joining The Citadel, COL Hoffman, served as the Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs where he was the principal advisor to the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Defense for strategic communications, community engagement, media relations and visual information as well as the Chief Pentagon Spokesperson for the Department of Defense. In that role he regularly briefed the domestic and international media from the Pentagon briefing room.
Before joining the Department of Defense, Hoffman oversaw strategic communications, public outreach and media relations as the Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for Public Affairs where he was the principal communications advisor to the Secretary of Homeland Security. Additionally, he acted as lead for the entire federal government’s communications and government affairs response during major natural and man-made disasters.
He is a recipient of both the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service and the Secretary of Homeland Security’s Distinguished Service Medal.
COL Hoffman taught courses on homeland security and domestic terrorism as an adjunct professor at The Citadel from 2011-2013. He has also taught law school courses on military justice and immigration law. He has spent a decade in government with postings at the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security and State, and the White House. He has additionally supported private sector clients facing a variety of strategic communication campaigns and crisis communications challenges.
He serves as a lieutenant colonel in the Air Force Reserve Judge Advocate General Corps, having earned his JD from the University of Virginia and his BA from the University of Richmond.