Growing up in small-town Minnesota as the daughter of immigrant parents, Lin-Hua Wu, JD ’97 (BA ’93), was the member of her family who would call the grocery store to ask if it sold eggplant. She was the one who spoke up, telling her father, a math professor at the University of Minnesota Morris, “Dad, they ripped us off.” Unlike her parents, Wu spoke with no accent, and her ability to communicate effectively and interact with others made her, she says, “the family advocate.”

Years later, it was hardly surprising when Wu decided to attend law school. “Being able to understand history and facts, logically question things, and advocate for things seemed natural for my personality,” says Wu, who graduated from Stanford Law School in 1997. Known as Mary at school, Wu began using her middle name, Lin-Hua, after law school.

Following graduation, Wu spent two years as a corporate securities attorney at Wilson Sonsini in Silicon Valley. She then left the law for corporate communications, drawn to the fast-paced culture of speaking to reporters on deadline and working with in-house lawyers, media relations managers, and company executives. “It’s immediate and you have to think on your feet, and I enjoy that kind of challenge,” she says.

In 2023, after 19 years at Google, Square, Dropbox, and communications firms Brunswick Group and Kekst CNC, Wu joined General Motors, where she serves as executive vice president and chief marketing and communications officer. In her role managing GM’s brand and the reputations of both the corporation and its line of cars and trucks, Wu oversees business and policy communications, product launches, and narratives around the company’s vehicles and services. She’s also responsible for the corporate communications that keep employees informed about GM’s goals and strategies.

Joseph Grundfest, JD ’78, W. A. Franke Professor of Law and Business, Emeritus, attributes Wu’s success not only to her academic strengths but also to what he calls her “high EQ” that allows her to relate to others and understand their motivations. “Lin-Hua immediately distinguished herself by being able to engage with just about everyone,” says Grundfest, who had Wu in his class on securities regulation. Wu stood out by virtue of “the questions she asked and the interactions with her colleagues,” he recalls.

Navigating communications and law

The space between corporate communications and the law isn’t as big as some might think, says Wu, noting she has drawn on her legal background throughout her career. Both lawyers and communications professionals must anticipate and mitigate risk in ambiguous and unpredictable situations. Both consider the possible repercussions of various actions and their impact on the ultimate desired outcome.

“We’re all here to meet the goals of the business, and sometimes lawyers can be too much on the side of mitigating risk, which is when I push back.”

Lin-Hua Wu, JD ’97 (BA ’93), Executive VP and Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, General Motors

For example, in a situation where the company is involved in a legal case, Wu may help an executive prepare a response to a reporter’s questions. “I’d think, ‘How do we craft your answer so it is responsive and factual but you don’t say something that’s unintended and that’ll hurt us in the legal sense?’” Wu says. “To me, that’s just second nature.”

However, as a marketing and communications professional, Wu also knows that a response that might satisfy risk-averse lawyers might not serve the company’s brand and reputation. Company lawyers may balk at including certain information in an announcement, perhaps citing the SEC’s fair-disclosure rules as reason to exclude it. But Wu, who is equally familiar with the rules and relevant legal issues, might object if she believes that including the information is reasonable and helpful to the business. “It’s not always about risk mitigation,” she says. “We’re all here to meet the goals of the business, and sometimes lawyers can be too much on the side of mitigating risk, which is when I push back.” She believes that it is her job “to be proactive and make sure we get our story out [and] sometimes that means taking acceptable risk.”

Grundfest says Wu’s combination of interpersonal skills and legal acumen delivers real value. “You’re not issuing a press release from a major corporation without running it by the lawyers, and when the person in charge of your communications is also a lawyer, you have a very special weapon for the enterprise.”

Connecting with Stanford Law

Wu earned her undergraduate degree in international relations and considered pursuing a doctorate in political science. But in her senior year, she enrolled in Professor Lawrence Friedman’s course, History of American Law, and was hooked. The camaraderie she found at the law school made her Stanford experience even more special, says Wu. She was co-head of the Asian and Pacific Islander Law Students Association and fondly recalls sharing an apartment in Mountain View as a 3L, hanging out with her roommates, carpooling, and running late for classes.

Wu has maintained her connection to Stanford Law by serving on panels at Directors’ College, including one in 2024 titled “Crisis Anticipation and Management.” She also recently concluded a three-year term on Stanford Law’s Board of Visitors advisory panel. The law school has changed in the 30 years since she earned her degree, but what remains the same, she says, are “the level of teaching and level of
intellect.” SL