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BATON ROUGE —LSU Professor Jinx Coleman Broussard has been named The Plank Center for Leadership in Public Relations’ 2021 Bruce K. Berger Educator Honoree. She is one of five influential public relations leaders who will be honored at the annual Milestones in Mentoring Gala at the Union League Club of Chicago on Nov. 11.

The Bruce K. Berger Award recognizes individuals who are, or have been, full-time educators who have touched the lives and careers of countless students through mentoring. John Deveney, president and founder of internationally recognized marketing agency DEVENEY, will present the award to Broussard, his mentor.

“Jinx is an inspiration, a role model, and a consummate professional. She embodies the virtue of industry, and so generously gives of her time, her talent, and her wisdom,” said Deveney. “I am one of the many who have been challenged and encouraged by Jinx to become the very best person I can make of myself and to help others achieve the same goal.”

Broussard is the LSU Manship School of Mass Communication’s Bart R. Swanson Endowed Memorial Professor and an award-winning scholar who has taught public relations, strategic communication, media history and mass media theory for more than 20 years. She is nationally recognized as an expert on the history of the Black press, and her research also focuses on representations of racial and ethnic minorities, media history, alternative media, crisis communication, public relations strategies and tactics, and the civil rights movement.

“I have learned that mentoring is what gives me joy. … There is nothing more fulfilling than engaging young people and emerging professionals in developing the roadmap to self-empowerment. That can bring immeasurable satisfaction,” Broussard said.

Over the past several years, Broussard has garnered numerous accolades. In 2018, the Scripps Howard Foundation and AEJMC named Broussard “Teacher of the Year.” The national award recognizes excellence in innovative teaching, mentoring of students and faculty scholarship, and leadership in educational and industry activities. In 2019, Broussard received the LSU Rainmaker Award in the category of Senior Scholar in Arts, Humanities, Social & Behavioral Sciences. Additionally, her research gained recognition when she received the 2019 Guido H. Stempel III Research Award from the E. W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University.

This past April, LSU honored Broussard with a 2021 Distinguished Faculty Award, recognizing faculty members who have a sustained record of excellence in teaching, research, service or any combination of the three. Broussard was one of five faculty members across campus to receive this award. And in August 2021, Broussard was awarded the Donald L. Shaw Senior Scholar Award by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication’s (AEJMC) History Division.

For more information, contact acharbonnet1@lsu.edu.

LSU’s Manship School of Mass Communication ranks among the strongest collegiate communication programs in the country, with its robust emphasis on media and public affairs. It offers undergraduate degrees in public relations, journalism, political communication, digital advertising and pre-law, along with four graduate degree programs: Master of Mass Communication, Ph.D. in Media and Public Affairs, Certificate of Strategic Communication and a dual MMC/Law degree. Its public relations students were recently ranked the #1 team in the nation, and its digital advertising and student media teams frequently earn national recognition.

The Plank Center for Leadership in Public Relations is the leading international resource working to support students, educators and practitioners who are passionate about the public relations profession. Founded at The University of Alabama in 2005, the Center is named in honor of Betsy Plank, the “First Lady of PR.” Betsy’s legacy and vision continues on in the Center’s programs and initiatives to advance the profession and public relations education.