Kristen Morris

BA 1986, Communication

Chief Government and Community Relations Officer, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH

As Chief Government and Community Relations Officer, Kristen Morris is responsible for enterprise-wide corporate social responsibility and advocacy strategy. Kristen leads a team of local, state and federal government affairs, policy, and community relations professionals with the goal of making the Cleveland Clinic the undisputed leader in transforming the health and wellbeing of the communities in which we work.

Prior to joining the Cleveland Clinic, Kristen spent five years as the Vice President of Government Relations for Abbott Labs. Before that, she served almost 4 years as the vice president of Government Relations and Public Affairs for Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (BIPI), a top 20 pharmaceutical company with about $7 billion in annual sales. Her background includes eight years as the vice president of Legislative Affairs for the American Hospital Association and several years representing physicians including a stint at the American Medical Association. She also lobbied on behalf of the medical device industry at AdvaMed.

Kristen graduated from Purdue University with a double major in communications and a minor in health sciences. While in college, she interned for the Ways and Means Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives. Her Washington D.C. experience left her with a strong case of “Potomac fever” and she returned to D.C. after graduation to serve as a health legislative assistant on Capitol Hill for the next four years.

Her father, Don Westergren (BS ’64 Science), and brother Eric (BSCE ’90, Civil Engineering) also graduated from Purdue. She’s married to Craig Morris, another Purdue graduate, BA ’84, Political Science.