Dear Moody College Students, Faculty, and Staff,
I am thrilled to announce that Jay Bernhardt has been reappointed as Dean of the Moody College of Communication, effective Sept. 1. An international expert in public health communication, Dean Bernhardt holds the DeWitt Carter Reddick Regents Chair in Communication and the Walter Cronkite Regents Chair in Communication, and has led Moody College since March 2016. With his reappointment in September, he will serve another six years as Dean.
Dean Bernhardt has had an enormous impact on the Moody College and its continued advancement as one of the nation’s top institutions for communication, speech, media, and entertainment. Under his leadership, the college has hired 38 new tenured and tenure-track faculty members, added 23 full-time professional-track faculty members, and increased Black and Hispanic faculty representation by 50% and 63% respectively. The college has increased its four-year graduation rate to over 80% — among the highest of any college or school on campus — and launched innovative new academic programs like the Communication and Leadership B.S. degree and the Moody Honors Program, as well as a study-away and residential program in New York City.
Also under Dean Bernhardt’s leadership, Moody College has raised over $145 million to propel its growth and help its students, surpassing the college’s original overall target goal for the university’s current capital campaign.
In addition, the college has established numerous new centers and institutes covering a broad range of industries and sectors. Examples include the Center for Health Communication, Center for Media Engagement, Center for Sports Communication and Media, Center for Entertainment and Media Industries, Latino Media Arts and Studies Program, Texas Immersive Institute, and Arthur M. Blank Center for Stuttering Education and Research. The Global Sustainability and Leadership Institute, which is co-led by Moody College and the McCombs School of Business, offers students an innovative new minor in leadership in global sustainability.
Before UT, Dean Bernhardt served as a professor, center director, and department chair in the College of Health and Human Performance at the University of Florida. He also directed the National Center for Health Marketing at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for five years and served on the faculty of Emory University and the University of Georgia.
We are fortunate to have a visionary leader in Dean Bernhardt who cares deeply about the success, growth, and wellbeing of all Moody College students, faculty and staff. Please join me in congratulating him on his reappointment as Dean!
Sincerely,
Sharon L. Wood
Executive Vice President and Provost