Brief Bio

Dr. Doug Swanson joined the Cal Poly faculty in 2006. He is the Journalism Department’s only full-time faculty member in public relations, and teaches major courses in the subject area including JOUR 312 (Introduction to PR), JOUR 342 (Advanced PR Writing), and JOUR 415 (Advanced PR Practice). He is the faculty advisor to the department's Public Relations Student Society of America chapter and is the faculty advisor to Central Coast PRspectives, the student-run public relations firm.

Swanson also teaches IS-S101 (Introduction to Interdisciplinary Studies and the University) for Cal Poly Adult & Continuing Education.

For six years, Swanson taught public relations and speech courses in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Wisconsin - La Crosse. In his last two years at UW-L, Swanson served as founding director of the university’s Academic Advising Center. The AAC was honored by the Public Relations Society of America (Madison Chapter) for “Best Consumer Campaign Launch and Development” in Wisconsin in 2005.

Swanson previously he held the endowed chair in journalism and was the student newspaper advisor at Oklahoma Baptist University. He taught speech and broadcast courses at Cameron University in Lawton, Okla., and at Eastern New Mexico University in Portales, N.M.  He has more than 20 years of professional experience in broadcasting, print journalism, public relations and related fields. He earned his Ed.D at Oklahoma State University in 1999, and earned his PRSA accreditation in 2003.

Before embarking on a life at the front of the class, Swanson worked as a newspaper carrier, delivery truck driver, and convenience store clerk. He sold water softeners door to door, peddled luggage in a shopping mall, did night janitorial, and was a deckhand and waiter aboard a Mississippi River paddlewheel steamboat. (Ask to see the pictures.)

Dr. Swanson's wife, Terri, has lived with his unusual career choices and odd sense of humor since 1982. They have two adult sons and one cute dog that "has issues."