Karen Angell joined the athletics senior staff at American University as the Assistant Athletic Director for Communications and Digital Media in September, 2019.
As the head of the communications office for AU Athletics, Angell oversees a full-time staff of three and helps direct media relations coverage for all 16 varsity sports. She serves as the primary contact for volleyball, wrestling and swimming & diving while also being responsible for running the department's social media accounts. Over Angell's first year, the AU Eagles Instagram account following increased by 67 percent, while the wrestling account's growth was nearly 400 percent. The department launched a brand-new website through SIDEARM Sports, allowing for increased fan engagement including a far greater emphasis on social media and a weekly newsletter for all constituents.
Â
Angell is a D.C. native and came to AU with 17 years of experience in collegiate athletics, most recently spending 10 years at Temple University. After serving as Associate Director of Athletic Communications at Temple starting in 2009, Angell was promoted to Director of Strategic Communications in January, 2018. She was the primary contact for the Owls' field hockey, lacrosse and fencing teams, while serving as a secondary contact for men's basketball. Angell previously also served as the primary contact for Temple's women's basketball and volleyball teams.
Prior to Temple, Angell spent five years as the assistant media relations director at Northern Arizona University. While at NAU, she assisted in the day-to-day coverage of all 15 intercollegiate programs while serving as the primary contact for several sports including volleyball, women's basketball and women's swimming and diving. She also assisted with media and event operations for four Big Sky Conference Tournaments, and served as the media contact for the 2006 women's basketball team that advanced to the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament.
Angell, who was involved in two website overhauls during her time at NAU, joined the Lumberjack staff after working at the University of Connecticut from 2003-04 as an athletic communications assistant. At UConn, she coordinated the publicity efforts for women's volleyball, men's ice hockey, softball, men's and women's tennis and men's and women's cross country and track and field.
Angell attended James Madison University where she was a member of the archery team for four years, earning All-America honors. While at JMU, she spent two years working in the sports media relations office, and served as the women's lacrosse contact in her final year. She earned a bachelor's degree in kinesiology and recreation studies from JMU in 2002 and a master's degree in sport management from Drexel University in June, 2012.
Formerly Karen Auerbach, she married Sam Angell in 2016 and the two had a daughter in 2018.
