Kerry O’Grady

Dr. Kerry O’Grady is a faculty affairs expert, award-winning curriculum developer, higher education consultant, and seasoned public relations practitioner. Most recently, Dr. O'Grady was the faculty director for the Master's in Public Relations and Corporate Communications program at Georgetown's School of Continuing Studies and an associate professor of the practice. During her tenure, she doubled enrollment, redesigned curricular offerings, increased academic rigor, developed policies and procedures, trained and mentored faculty, and built community among instructors. Prior to coming to Georgetown, she spent eight years at NYU's School of Professional Studies, teaching in its M.S. in Public Relations and Corporate Communication program. There, she acted as the faculty lead and clinical assistant professor of the program and taught a variety of PR courses, including strategic communications, theory, history, and practice, integrated marketing, practicum, and capstone. She also taught in NYU's continuing education program and high school academy. Other past teaching appointments include the Fashion Institute of Technology and a guest lecturer role at the University of Massachusetts - Amherst. A fearless author on systemic issues in higher education, she's written articles for Inside Higher Ed and The Chronicle of Higher Education.

With professional experience in public relations, integrated marketing and advertising, past positions include Associate Director, Integrated Marketing for Women's Health magazine, Senior Manager, Integrated Marketing at Parents, FamilyFun, and American Baby magazines (Meredith Corp.), Business Development Manager, La Voz and TV y Mas, and Advertising Executive, The Arizona Republic (Gannett, Inc.). She's also held consulting roles at Saatchi & Saatchi, Viacom, and TalkSpace. She is a regularly sought-after media expert, as seen in The Washington Post, The New York Post, The Telegraph, and on ABC News’ digital podcast “Uncomfortable,” to name a few. An award-winning practitioner, she's been honored with President's Club (Gannett, Inc.), Marketing Campaign of the Year Finalist (Meredith Corp.), the Public Relations Society of America - NY top "35 Under 35" winner, and NYU's "Outstanding Service" award. She holds a B.A. (summa cum laude) in both Journalism and English from The University of Massachusetts - Amherst, an M.S. Public Relations & Corporate Communication (with distinction) from New York University, and an Ed.D. in Leadership and Learning in Organizations from Vanderbilt University.