Biographical Sketch

Doug Swanson joined Cal Poly State University in September, 2006. As the Journalism Department’s only full-time faculty member in public relations, he teaches the key courses in the subject area – JOUR 312 (Introduction to PR), JOUR 342 (Advanced PR Writing), and JOUR 415 (Advanced PR Practice). Swanson is the faculty advisor to the Cal Poly Public Relations Student Society of America chapter and also is the faculty advisor to Central Coast PRspectives, the student-run public relations firm.

From 2000 to 2006, Swanson taught in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Wisconsin - La Crosse. He taught courses in the public relations/ organizational communication emphasis area, including basic PR course (CST 360), as well as CST 362 (PR Tools and Strategies) and CST 499 (Senior Project). He was faculty advisor to the UWL PRSSA chapter and was recognized for ‘high merit’ by the department in 2002 and 2003. In his last two years at UW-L, he 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 taught at Oklahoma Baptist University, where he held the endowed chair in journalism and was the student newspaper advisor. 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.

Dr. Swanson and his wife Terri have been married since 1982. They have two sons. One is a senior technical communication major at the University of Wisconsin-Stout; the other son is serving in the U.S. Navy.