Markus Kiesenhofer is Austria's best Corporate Communicator 2025

"This personal award would be unthinkable without the commitment of the entire institute. In addition to research and consulting, communication is an integral part of our strategic identity. During the years of crisis, WIFO has become a lifeline for newsrooms: if an economic issue is burning, we are there," said Kiesenhofer, who thanked his teammates Tamara Fellinger, Marion Kogler, Verena Kraushofer and Tatjana Weber, Director Gabriel Felbermayr, Deputy Director Christine Mayrhuber and the entire staff of the Austrian Institute of Economic Research.

Since 2019, Markus Kiesenhofer has been in charge of public relations at WIFO. Previously, he was head of communications at the Austrian Newspaper Association (VÖZ) and the Austrian Magazine and Specialist Media Association (ÖZV) and represented the interests of the cultural region of Lower Austria. He was a board member for the Austrian Media Academy (Kuratorium für Journalistenausbildung) and the Committee for Press Licences (Kuratorium für Presseausweise), as well as a substitute member of the Austrian Communications Authority's (KommAustria) Publishing Funding Council (Publizistikförderungsbeirat). He also demonstrated his expertise in the Austrian media landscape in 2017 and 2018 as co-author of the annual standard work "Media Handbook Austria" ("Medienhandbuch Österreich") published by Czernin Verlag. Kiesenhofer studied journalism and media management at "FHWien der WKW" and political science at the University of Vienna and Charles University in Prague. In 2023, "Austria's Journalist" named Kiesenhofer Science Spokesperson of the Year.