HOUSTON—Michael Kehs, who previously served as Washington, DC, general manager and head of the US public affairs practice at Hill+Knowlton Strategies, has returned to the firm to head up both the Houston office and the US energy practice.

Prior to founding his own firm in 2013, Kehs was vice president of strategic affairs and public relations at Chesapeake Energy Corporation, an Oklahoma City-based independent exploration and production company. He led the company’s extensive internal and external communications initiatives, produced the company's inaugural corporate responsibility report and served as media spokesperson.

Prior to joining Chesapeake, Kehs served for more than two decades in a variety of leadership roles at H+K, Porter Novelli and Burson-Marsteller.

The US energy practice had been directed by H+K’s US-based global energy practice leader Chris Gidez, who retains the latter role.