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Biography

Joseph A. Brennan, PhD, MBA, APR, Fellow PRSA is one of the nation's most respected and influential leaders in higher education marketing and public relations. Over a distinguished 35-year career, he has risen from a Public Relations Director at a community college to become a Vice President for three major public research universities (the University of Iowa, the University at Albany-SUNY, and ÌÇÐÄvlog).  More than a dozen presidents have looked to him as a trusted strategic advisor who has supported them to make significant institutional transformations, grow revenues and navigate through high risk situations. 

As Vice President for University Marketing and Communications, Brennan reports directly to the President and serves on the Executive Council. He shapes and elevates the University's public profile, guides brand strategy, institutional messaging, student recruitment marketing and stakeholder engagement. He and his team advance the University's enrollment, reputation, and mission through brand building and integrated marketing  communications. He guides a division of 30 professionals and an annual budget of $6.9 million.
 

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Research

Dr. Brennan has made more than 30 conference presentations and published 25 peer-reviewed and professional articles. His interests include leadership, emergency communications, crisis management, services marketing, and organizational design. He is the primary author of the first statistically rigorous and peer-reviewed analysis of the validity of the U.S. News and World Report college rankings, a study that helped change how college communications professionals think about rankings. 

He is a regular contributor to and a peer reviewer for the Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management. Visit his website for a complete .

He earned the Accredited in Public Relations credential from the Public Relations Society of America in 1998, granted after passing an oral examination by a panel of peers and a full-day written test. In 2017, Brennan was elected a member of the PRSA College of Fellows, a distinction conferred on a select few senior professionals after a rigorous peer review process, in recognition of superior performance, knowledge, ethics and service to the profession. 

Brennan holds a doctorate in English, a master's degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing (4.0 GPA), and a BA in English and Psychology (summa cum laude). He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and three other academic honor societies. 

He holds a professional certificate in Leadership Coaching for Organizational Performance from Rutgers University and is a member of the International Coaches Federation.
 

Brennan's professional service includes chairing the board of the national professional society for public relations practitioners who serve higher education, PRSA Counselors to Higher Education; volunteering as a disaster communications expert for the American Red Cross, including serving a deployment to Puerto Rico after a devastating hurricane; and serving twice on the planning committee for the American Marketing Association's higher education marketing conference, the largest gathering of university marketers in the world. In July 2026, Brennan was elected to a 3-year term as an at-large director on the national Board of Directors of the American Marketing Association.

In addition to his executive work, Brennan has  served as an independent peer reviewer for assessments of college and university communications and marketing departments, and a mentor and coach to many rising leaders in his field.