MenLinjuanRita_SpotlightDr. Rita Men, assistant professor of public relations at the University of Florida, has been appointed Chief Research Editor of the IPR Organizational Communication Research Center (OCRC). Dr. Men is known for her research in employee engagement, leadership communication, public relations evaluation and measurement, relationship/reputation management, and social media.

Three years ago, the Commission on Organizational Communication, spearheaded by Dr. Bruce Berger, professor at the University of Alabama, and Keith Burton, principal at Grayson Emmett Partners, established the OCRC as a comprehensive source for game-changing employee communication research, best practices and measures. Dr. Men served as the Research Editor under the guidance of Dr. Berger. With more than 150 abstracts published to date, the OCRC is the leading resource for research on employee communication.

“Under the visionary leadership of Dr. Bruce Berger, the OCRC developed into a thriving resource for leaders in the field to share insights, views, and experiences on employee communication issues,” said Dr. Men. “I am honored and humbled to take on the role. We will continue building the thought leadership of the OCRC and making it THE resource center for academics and professionals who share a passion for internal communication.”

Dr. Men has published approximately 30 articles in leading referred journals including the Journal of Public Relations Research, Communication Research, Management Communication Quarterly and Public Relations Review. She is the 2010 recipient of the IPR and Ketchum Excellence in Public Relations Research Award (now the Don Bartholomew Award for Excellence in PR Research), and is a Page Up member of the Arthur W. Page Society. She has worked internationally with Alibaba Group, Inc., Ketchum, Inc., and provided communication consultancy for multiple multinational corporations and non-profit organizations.

“I invited Dr. Men to work with me on this project three years ago. Wow, what a great idea,” said Dr. Berger. “Dr. Men is truly one of the brightest young scholars and rock stars in our profession today. I am delighted she is taking on this role, and I have no doubt the OCRC site will continue to expand and enrich under her extremely capable and caring direction.”

Keith Burton serves as the Director of the IPR Commission on Organizational Communication, and knows that Dr. Men will continue building the foundation Dr. Berger has established for the OCRC.

“As a key leader of the Commission on Organizational Communication, Dr. Bruce Berger has been an outstanding partner over his many years as an IPR trustee.” said Burton. “All who have worked with him value his friendship, his integrity, his strategic insights and his drive to advance leadership in everything we do as public relations counselors. I thank Bruce for creating and helping drive the success of the OCRC. “

In addition to serving as the comprehensive resource for organizational communication, the Commission for Organizational Communication recently released the global research report “Organizational Clarity: The Case for Workforce Alignment & Belief.” In 2013, the Commission also launched an employee best-in-class practices study “Best-in-Class Practices in Employee Communication: Through the Lens of 10 Global Leaders.”

About the IPR Commission on Organizational Communication

With social, economic, political and technological transformation sweeping the globe, no other discipline will prove more important to business leaders over the next five years than organizational communication. The IPR Commission on Organizational Communication will play a critical role in shaping the global practice of organizational communication; in ensuring that critical knowledge for guiding current and future leaders in our profession is readily available; and in creating new communities – real and virtual – where tomorrow’s leaders can network, seek solutions and ideate tomorrow’s models. Most recent studies include “Organizational Clarity: The Case for Workforce Alignment & Belief” and “Best-in-Class Practices in Employee Communication: Through the Lens of 10 Global Leaders.”

About the Institute for Public Relations

The Institute for Public Relations is an independent, nonprofit research foundation dedicated to the science beneath the art of public relations™. IPR focuses on research that matters to the profession, providing timely insights and applied intelligence that professionals can put to immediate use. All research is available free at instituteforpr.org and provides the basis for the organization’s professional conferences and events.

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Contact:
Sarah Jackson
sarah@instituteforpr.org
352-392-0280

 

Heidy Modarelli handles Growth & Marketing for IPR. She has previously written for Entrepreneur, TechCrunch, The Next Web, and VentureBeat.
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