NYU spokesperson John Beckman will retire at the end of 2025 after 29 years at the university, President Linda Mills announced in a Tuesday email to senior administrators. Kyle Kimball, vice president for government relations and community engagement, will also step down in early September.
Mills said that the departures are “entirely independent.” Beckman and Kimball currently serve as two prominent voices for NYU, co-leading its University Relations and Public Affairs department.
“Working for NYU has been the singular honor of my professional life,” Beckman said in a statement to WSN.
Beckman has served as NYU’s vice president of public relations since 1996, through four separate university presidencies. Mills described him as “one of NYU’s most effective defenders” and “a steady hand on the tiller.”
Mills’ Deputy Chief of Staff Gabe Schanke Mahl will interimly replace Kimball, who will begin his tenure as vice president of university relations at Cornell University on Sept. 15. Beckman’s successor will be selected over the next several months.
“The coincidental departure of both John and Kyle gives us a chance to reflect on the university’s external affairs framework and how we might best structure these operations going forward to best serve the university and the way it projects itself to public audiences,” Mills said in the email.
Credited for thousands of university statements and the university’s primary contact for press, Beckman is NYU’s predominant public representative. He is also the longest-standing member of senior administration.
Kimball has worked at the university since 2023, during which he represented NYU in correspondence with federal, state and city officials. He also facilitated university responses to policy changes, including during the Trump administration’s recent efforts to upend higher education laws, and oversaw coordination with community organizations and non-profits.
“Kyle’s tenure has coincided with an unprecedented period of government focus on higher education and a demanding period for New York City,” Mills said. “We were extraordinarily lucky to have someone of his skills and capabilities.”
The announcement comes amid several other major administrative changes. Mills announced in April that Executive Vice President Martin Dorph will retire in October, and since July, the university has appointed new deans for the Tisch School of Arts, Wagner School of Public Policy and School of Global Public Health. Last semester also saw leadership changes at the Stern School of Business, Liberal Studies program and Arts and Sciences department.
Contact Dharma Niles at [email protected].
