| Jay Bernhardt | |
| Birth Place: | Princeton, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Education: | Rutgers University (BA, MPH) University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (PhD) |
Jay M. Bernhardt (born 1969) is an American public health specialist and academic. Bernhardt has served as the president of Emerson College since June 2023. He was previously the dean of the Moody College of Communication at The University of Texas at Austin from 2016 to 2023.
Bernhardt was born in 1969 and grew up in East Brunswick, New Jersey.[1] He attended Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, where he earned a B.A. in sociology and minored in computer science. He earned a Master of Public Health (MPH)[2] degree from Rutgers and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. Bernhardt earned his Ph.D. in public health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC)[3] with an interdisciplinary focus on health communication.[4] He's been inducted into honor societies including the Cap and Skull Society at Rutgers and the Order of the Grail-Valkyries at UNC, and received awards including the Everett M. Rogers Award for Excellence in Health Communication and the Jay S. Drotman Memorial Award from the American Public Health Association.[5]
Bernhardt began his academic career as an assistant professor in the School of Health and Human Performance at the University of Georgia in 1999 before joining the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University in 2001. From 2005 to 2010, Bernhardt worked at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), where he directed the National Center for Health Marketing, overseeing and advancing the agency's communication, marketing, partnerships, and new media innovations.[6] In 2010, he joined the School of Health and Human Performance at the University of Florida, where he served as department chair, professor and center director. He joined the University of Texas at Austin in July 2014 as professor in the Department of Communication Studies and the Stan Richards School of Advertising and Public Relation.[7] Later, he helped establish the Center for Health Communication and served as its director.[8] In 2015, he was named as the interim dean of the Moody College of Communication.[9] [10]
Bernhardt became the sixth dean of the Moody College of Communication on March 1, 2016.[11] Bernhardt's tenure has led to the development of many new programs including a four-year honors program,[12] B.A. degree in communication and leadership[13] and a “study away” program in New York City known as UTNY.[14] He increased graduate student funding and the four-year graduation rate to 80 percent, among the highest on campus.[15] He's recruited more than 50 new faculty members and established new research centers, institutes and programs.[16] [17] He's also prioritized issues of diversity, equity and inclusion and established the college’s first associate dean position with this portfolio.[18]
The Jay M. Bernhardt Award for Staff Excellence at the University of Texas is named in his honor.[19]
In June 2021, Bernhardt became the thirteenth president of Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts, succeeding M. Lee Pelton.[20] He has appointed notable leaders during his administration, including Alexandra Socarides as Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, and Matthew Boyce as Vice President of Enrollment Management.[21] [22] After extensive negotiations, he successfully concluded a historic agreement with the Emerson College Full-time Faculty Union (ECCAAUP).[23] The agreement, effective from September 1, 2023, to the end of the 2028 academic year, features substantial salary increases aimed at enhancing faculty recruitment and retention.[23]
His research is focused on digital health through the application of communication and technology to public health and healthcare. He was among the first to research wireless mobile technology for health-related data collection and personalized text messages, and the application of new and social media for health communication. His research has been funded by the National Institutes for Health, the Food and Drug Administration, the CDC, and other agencies and foundations.[24]