Dr. Breann E. Murphy

Endowed Scholar of Diversity in Leadership and Public Relations

Associate Professor
399 Merrill Hall
256-782-5389
bmurphy5@jsu.edu   

Dr. Murphy joined the faculty at Jacksonville State University shortly after receiving her doctoral degree from the University of Alabama. Her main research interest, which she continues to pursue, is examining the leadership of women who serve in executive roles in the communication industry, specifically in the field of public relations. Her award-winning work in this field recently led to her garnering Top Faculty Paper honors from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication’s (AEJMC’s) public relations division. Samples of her scholarly work in this area can be found in academic journals, such as the Journal of Public Relations Research, PR Journal and PR Inquiry. She has also published scholarship exploring athletic image repair in sport communication.

Dr. Murphy’s primary work is in response to an ongoing challenge in her discipline. Women comprise the majority (various studies report 63-71% of the field) of practitioners in the public relations workforce. However, they are traditionally underrepresented in the top positions in the industry. Given the growing profile and demand for Dr. Murphy’s work, she was awarded the department’s and college’s first endowed scholar role to support expansion on her award-winning research, so that the unit can continue to build our understanding of effective leadership practices of women and underrepresented leaders in the field.

Leveraging this knowledge of skills, characteristics, values, and actions of successful leaders, this role encourages and supports students in the program and practitioners through mentorship and professional development programming. Given the importance of addressing this disparity in the industry, The College of Business and Industry is also committed to providing supplemental support beyond the endowment for scholarship, presentations, and programming that align with the stated focus of the endowed role. Dr. Muphy’s role as an endowed scholar is intended to be the first of a series of endowed scholars in the unit, focusing on addressing core challenges in the journalism and mass communication fields.

Dr. Murphy’s service record also reflects the impressive, singular quality of her scholarship. From 2019-2024, she served as the Faculty Adviser of PRSSA, our university's award-winning professional student organization in public relations. Under her advisement, the chapter earned state-wide awards for its programming and recruiting efforts from PRSA Alabama (2022, 2024), national recognition from PRSSA in a Teahan award for its programming efforts (2023), and in 2023, was one of only 39 out of 400 chapters in the global footprint of PRSSA to merit a Star Chapter award. Along with this service, she has served on the university's Women in Academia Support Group as the faculty representative for the College of Business and Industry and on the newly formed Women in Business and Industry task force. She has also served as an academic advisor for our department's public relations and advertising concentration.

Dr. Murphy has continued to be an active member of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), which is the national professional association for public relations practitioners. In 2023, she was elected to the Executive Board for Alabama PRSA, the state chapter of this national association, by serving as Treasurer, a role which she continued in 2024. Before this service, she previously served as Programming Chair for Alabama PRSA in 2022. She also continues to conduct collaborative work with local nonprofits and public relations agencies, along with serving as Secretary (2022-2024) and Vice-Chair Elect (2025) for the Public Relations Division for the Southern States Communication Association. She is also an active member of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) by serving on the Teaching Committee for the Public Relations Division (2023-2024; 2024-2025) and participating in the Commission on the Status of Women, along with becoming a Kopenhaver Center Fellow in 2023 for the Lillian Lodge Kopenhaver Center for the Advancement of Women in Communication.