Communication Services Staff

Paul GranthamPaul Grantham
Assistant Vice President
paul.grantham@duke.edu
919-681-4534

Paul Grantham is a senior executive with more than 20 years of experience in higher education.

As assistant vice president at Duke University, he has continued to assume expanded responsibilities and now oversees the Office of Communication Services, Parking and Transportation Services, and Disability Management. He also serves as Duke's deputy emergency manager and lead's the institutions COVID response. He has been appointed to a multitude university-wide committees to help guide and develop policy and process for the institution.

Prior to joining Duke, Grantham spent four years in corporate communications at Wachovia - one of the leading financial institutions in the southeast. He also honed his communications craft as a journalist at the Kernersville News, where he began as a news reporter and was later named assistant editor.

Grantham has a master's degree in English and African-American Literature from North Carolina A&T State University, where he also taught composition. He also earned a bachelor's in English from Guilford College, where he was an Academic All-American in football.

 

Leanora MinaiLeanora Minai
Executive Director of Communications, Editor of Working@Duke
leanora.minai@duke.edu
919-681-4533

Leanora Minai is the executive director of communications for the Office of Communication Services and serves as the editor-in-chief for the Working@Duke print and digital publications. She also supports Duke’s administrative departments with strategic communication planning.

Prior to joining Duke in 2004, Leanora worked as a reporter for the St. Petersburg Times, now the Tampa Bay Times, in Florida. She received a master’s degree from Duke University in 2021. For her master’s thesis, she conducted original research into grief following fatal car crashes in North Carolina. The thesis was recognized as an “Exemplary Master’s Project.”

Leanora was born in Africa and lived abroad growing up. Her first real job was at a McDonald’s in Texas, where she received the recognition of McDonald’s Founder’s Day “Outstanding Service Person.”

 

Greg WhitakerGreg Whitaker
Web Administrator
greg.whitaker@duke.edu
919-684-8187

Greg Whitaker is web administrator for the Office of Communication Services.  He manages the Human Resources and Services & Administration websites, and also provides support for other administrative department websites, including Sustainability, Duke Police, Dining, and Parking & Transportation among others.

Greg is a North Carolina native and a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he received his bachelor's degree in ancient and medieval history. He has worked at Duke since 2000.

 

Paul FigueradoPaul Figuerado
Graphic Designer/Publication Specialist
paul.figuerado@duke.edu
919-684-2107

Paul Figuerado serves as the publications specialist for the Office of Communication Services. Paul’s career in graphic design coincided with the introduction of the Macintosh computer, which was introduced a year after his graduation from The Ringling School of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida.

More than 20 years later, Paul’s design work is now an intricate part of the fabric of Duke – from business cards that faculty and staff hand out to the issues of Working@Duke that they receive in the mail.

Paul has received recognition for his design work over the years, including six PICA (Printing Industry of the Carolinas, Inc.) awards. He has even been able to make several bad ideas look good with a little creative help. 

 

Stephen SchrammStephen Schramm
Senior Writer
stephen.schramm@duke.edu
919-684-4639

Stephen Schramm is a senior writer for the Working@Duke print and digital publications.

He came to Duke in 2017 after spending 16 years writing for the Washington (NC) Daily News, the Burlington Times-News and the Fayetteville Observer. He has been honored several times by the North Carolina Press Association and the Associated Press Sports Editors. He also earned a notable selection in the 2016 Best American Sports Writing series.

He covered ACC basketball for nearly a decade and was courtside when Duke claimed two of its national titles.

A Carrboro native, Stephen attended East Carolina University. He lives in Durham with his wife and two children.