Franz Paasche was appointed executive vice president for public affairs and communications in August 2024. His portfolio includes government and community affairs. Franz comes to Columbia, most recently, from PayPal where he served as chief corporate affairs officer, with responsibility for global strategic communications, public affairs, social impact, government affairs, and community culture and employee engagement. Some of his previous experience includes working for McKinsey and Company as the head of external relations for North America, as a leadership communications and reputation management consultant at Communications Consulting Worldwide, as a litigator for Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, and as general counsel for Market Data Corporation. He began his career working on the legislative team of New York’s Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan. Franz is a New Yorker and a graduate of Columbia Law School, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar. He has a BA with high honors in political science, English literature, and American economic history from Swarthmore College.