{"id":2363,"date":"2026-05-26T13:30:05","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T13:30:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/plankcenter.ua.edu\/?page_id=2363"},"modified":"2026-05-26T13:30:05","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T13:30:05","slug":"dr-matthew-w-ragas","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/plankcenter.ua.edu\/?page_id=2363","title":{"rendered":"Dr. Matthew W. Ragas"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div style=\"height:100px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-content-justification-space-between is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-b0ffac9c wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons wp-container-content-9cfa9a5a is-content-justification-left is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-63375db1 wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button is-style-fill\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-black-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color has-text-align-left wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/plankcenter.ua.edu\/?page_id=1078\" style=\"background-color:#f3f3f3\">\u2190 BACK TO THE HONOREES<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-social-links has-large-icon-size is-style-logos-only is-layout-flex wp-block-social-links-is-layout-flex\"><li class=\"wp-social-link wp-social-link-linkedin wp-block-social-link\"><a rel=\"noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/mattragas\/\" class=\"wp-block-social-link-anchor\"><svg width=\"24\" height=\"24\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.1\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\"><path d=\"M19.7,3H4.3C3.582,3,3,3.582,3,4.3v15.4C3,20.418,3.582,21,4.3,21h15.4c0.718,0,1.3-0.582,1.3-1.3V4.3 C21,3.582,20.418,3,19.7,3z M8.339,18.338H5.667v-8.59h2.672V18.338z M7.004,8.574c-0.857,0-1.549-0.694-1.549-1.548 c0-0.855,0.691-1.548,1.549-1.548c0.854,0,1.547,0.694,1.547,1.548C8.551,7.881,7.858,8.574,7.004,8.574z M18.339,18.338h-2.669 v-4.177c0-0.996-0.017-2.278-1.387-2.278c-1.389,0-1.601,1.086-1.601,2.206v4.249h-2.667v-8.59h2.559v1.174h0.037 c0.356-0.675,1.227-1.387,2.526-1.387c2.703,0,3.203,1.779,3.203,4.092V18.338z\"><\/path><\/svg><span class=\"wp-block-social-link-label screen-reader-text\">LinkedIn<\/span><\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text is-stacked-on-mobile is-vertically-aligned-top\" style=\"grid-template-columns:25% auto\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"810\" height=\"810\" src=\"https:\/\/plankcenter.ua.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Matt-Ragas.jpeg\" alt=\"Smiling man with glasses, dark hair, and a goatee, wearing a checkered suit and pink shirt against a light gray background, conveying a friendly tone.\" class=\"wp-image-2343 size-full\" srcset=\"https:\/\/plankcenter.ua.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Matt-Ragas.jpeg 810w, https:\/\/plankcenter.ua.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Matt-Ragas-300x300.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/plankcenter.ua.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Matt-Ragas-150x150.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/plankcenter.ua.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Matt-Ragas-768x768.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/plankcenter.ua.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Matt-Ragas-600x600.jpeg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 810px) 100vw, 810px\" \/><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\" style=\"font-size:30px\">Dr. Matthew W. Ragas<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Dr. Matthew (Matt) W. Ragas is a professor and the director of graduate studies in the College of Communication, where he teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in business literacy for communicators, corporate social responsibility (CSR), entrepreneurship, media relations and digital and traditional public relations. He was the founding director of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.depaul.edu\/academics\/programs\/professional-communication-ma\">professional communication graduate program<\/a>. In a prior role as academic director of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.depaul.edu\/academics\/public-relations-and-advertising\/graduate\/public-relations-and-advertising-ma\/Pages\/default.aspx\">PR and advertising graduate program<\/a>, it was named PRWeek Awards Education Program of the Year.<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-medium-font-size\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Matt earned his doctoral degree in mass communication from the University of Florida. He holds a Master of Science in management and a Bachelor of Science in business administration (marketing concentration), both from the University of Central Florida. Topics of Matt\u2019s interdisciplinary research include corporate communications, investor relations and financial communications and news and public opinion (and influences on news content). With two decades of professional experience in media and communication, he links theory and practice in his teaching and research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Matt is co-author, with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.depaul.edu\/faculty-and-staff\/faculty\/Pages\/culp.aspx\">Ron Culp<\/a>, of the books <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Business-Acumen-Strategic-Communicators-Workbook-ebook\/dp\/B0CYZYJHPN?ref_=ast_author_dp\">Business Acumen for Strategic Communicators: The Workbook<\/a> (Emerald Publishing), <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Business-Acumen-Strategic-Communicators-Primer\/dp\/1838676627\">Business Acumen for Strategic Communicators: A Primer<\/a> (Emerald Publishing) and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Business-Essentials-Strategic-Communicators-Organization-ebook\/dp\/B00RZU41MQ\">Business Essentials for Strategic Communicators: Creating Shared Value for the Organization and its Stakeholders<\/a> (Palgrave Macmillan). He is co-editor with Culp of the book <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Mastering-Business-Strategic-Communicators-Insights-ebook\/dp\/B074ZDSQS1\/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1507825801&amp;sr=1-2&amp;keywords=mastering+business+for+strategic+communicators\">Mastering Business for Strategic Communicators: Insights and Advice from the C-suite of Leading Brands<\/a> (Emerald Publishing). These books are in use at more than 30 colleges and universities, as well as in professional training and development programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">He is the author of two earlier trade books, The Power of Cult Branding<em> <\/em>(Crown\/Random House) and Lessons from the E-Front (Prima\/Random House), and his scholarly research has appeared in Journalism &amp; Mass Communication Quarterly, Mass Communication &amp; Society, Journalism Studies, Public Relations Journal, Journal of Communication Management, Corporate Communications, Public Relations Review, International Journal of Communication, International Journal of Strategic Communication, Journalism: Theory, Practice and Criticism, Case Studies in Strategic Communication and Journal of Health and Mass Communication among others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">He is the author of a variety of chapters in edited books, and he has contributed to The Chronicle of Higher Education<em>, <\/em>NIRI&#8217;s IRupdate<em>, <\/em>PRNews<em>, <\/em>PRSA&#8217;s Strategies &amp; Tactics<em>, <\/em>The Public Relations Strategist and Public Relations Tactics<em>, <\/em>and<em> <\/em>to the Institute for Public Relations. Matt serves on the editorial boards of Journal of Public Relations Research<em>, <\/em>Journal of Public Relations Education<em>, <\/em>Public Relations Journal<em>, <\/em>Journal of Public Interest Communications<em>, <\/em>and Case Studies in Strategic Communication, as well as an invited reviewer for more than 20 different academic journals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Matt has been a recipient of the Dorothy Bowles Public Service Award and the Nafziger-White Salwen Dissertation Award from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. He has received the university&#8217;s Spirit of Inquiry award, the college&#8217;s Excellence in Teaching award, DePaul ENGAGE socially responsible faculty awards and several other teaching or research awards and nominations. A former member of the board of trustees for the Arthur W. Page Society, a global professional association for senior corporate communicators, he is most proud of <a href=\"https:\/\/resources.depaul.edu\/newsline\/sections\/debuzz\/Pages\/Students-take-top-honors-at-Page-Society-competition.aspx\">serving as faculty advisor<\/a> on 13 winning Page\/Institute for Public Relations case study competition cases authored by his graduate students. Matt also serves on the Buchanan area board and the Buchanan Promise scholarship committee of the Michigan Gateway Community Foundation, a $30+ million in assets foundation, which helps enrich the communities of southern Berrien and Cass counties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">A New Orleans native, Matt is passionate about good food, traveling (30+ countries and counting), the stock market, politics and public affairs and sports (go Florida Gators, UCF Knights, New Orleans Saints, all Chicago teams, particularly the White Sox, and the Blue Demons, of course). He lives in the South Loop with his better half, Traci, an IT program manager, and their trusty companion, Mabel Mae, a rescue dog. The Michiana region of southwest Michigan and northern Indiana is his happy place.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:100px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dr. Matthew W. Ragas Dr. Matthew (Matt) W. Ragas is a professor and the director of graduate studies in the College of Communication, where he teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in business literacy for communicators, corporate social responsibility (CSR), entrepreneurship, media relations and digital and traditional public relations. He was the founding director of the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"","ocean_second_sidebar":"","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"","ocean_custom_header_template":"","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2363","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/plankcenter.ua.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2363","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/plankcenter.ua.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/plankcenter.ua.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/plankcenter.ua.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/plankcenter.ua.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2363"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/plankcenter.ua.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2363\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2364,"href":"https:\/\/plankcenter.ua.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2363\/revisions\/2364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/plankcenter.ua.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}