LSU’s Manship School Names Josh Grimm, Ph.D., New Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies and Administration

May 24, 2019

Baton Rouge, LA – LSU’s Manship School of Mass Communication has named Josh Grimm, Ph.D., new associate dean of undergraduate studies and administration. Grimm has been with the Manship School since 2012 and currently serves as associate dean of research and strategic initiatives.

In his new role, Grimm will oversee the recruiting, curriculum and course development, experiential learning opportunities and administration for all undergraduate activities.

“During the past seven years, Josh has proven himself to be a high performer and critical player on our Manship School team. He’s already worked closely on course development and curriculum updates, student advising and assessment, and we look forward to his continued successes in this new role,” Martin Johnson, dean of the Manship School, said.

Grimm is the recipient of numerous teaching awards from the LSU Alumni Association, Phi Kappa Phi honor society, and the Tiger Athletic Foundation, which awarded Grimm with its Undergraduate Teaching Awards in 2015 and the President’s Award in 2019.

In his current position, Grimm oversees all research activities and strategic planning at the Manship School. During the last couple of years, he published papers in Communication Research Reports, Howard Journal of Communications, Health Communication, Feminist Media Studies and Journal of Homosexuality.  Josh also published a monograph, Devil’s Advocates: It Follows, an edited volume that grew out of the 2017 Breaux Symposium, How Public Policy Impacts Racial Inequality, and has another monograph and edited reader under contract.  

The main focus of his research is how diversity is portrayed in the media, with an emphasis on race, gender and sexuality. Most recently, his focus has been on how gay men talk about PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis), and he is partnering with Baton Rouge clinics to study how to improve those health messaging strategies. 

In addition to teaching a wide range of journalism and mass communication classes (including in-depth reporting, advanced journalism, race and gender in political communication, and media law), Grimm also developed the school’s online media law course. Grimm currently serves as the assessment coordinator for the Manship School’s visual communication courses. He has acted as an advisor on honors and master’s theses, professional projects and dissertations.

“The Manship School is a special place, filled with amazing students, faculty and staff,” Grimm said. “I’m absolutely thrilled to be able to work with them in this role.”

Grimm earned his master’s degree from the University of Texas at Austin and received his doctorate from the University of Iowa. Josh completed his doctorate from the University of Iowa in 2009, after which he taught at Texas Tech University until joining the LSU faculty in 2012.

Grimm will transition to his new role June 13.

For more information, contact smalin@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 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.