Crisis Communication Think Tank

C. Richard Yarbrough Professor in Crisis Communication Leadership, Professor of Public Relations and Associate Director of Center for Health & Risk Communication, Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Director of Programming and Development, Department of Advertising and Public Relations, Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Dr. Bryan Reber, professor emeritus, is the former C. Richard Yarbrough Professor in Crisis Communication Leadership and former director of the CCTT.

Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies, Co-Director of Center for Health & Risk Communication, Professor, Advertising & Public Relations, Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Senior Vice President + Managing Director, Arketi Inside

Chris Berger is a seasoned communicator with more than 25 years of experience leading communications teams in diverse industries. He currently heads reputation and external communications at Advocate Health, the third largest non-profit health systems in the United States, serving nearly 6 million patients across 69 hospitals and over 1,000 sites of care. Chris previously held senior communications roles at Walmart, supporting large-scale initiatives for over 2 million employees, and has worked in government, banking and financial services. Chris enjoys exploring the world with his wife and two daughters, playing a round of disc golf and roasting delicious coffee during his spare time.

Results-driven professional with 30 years of communications experience working for global brands such as: AT&T, Apple, Dolby, Ogilvy PR, ChargePoint and RealPage. Worked with leaders like: Steve Jobs, Tim Cook, Phil Schiller and Eddy Cue from Apple; Stan Sigman and Ralph de la Vega from AT&T; and Dagmar Dolby from Dolby.
Led iconic launches including: original iPhone, the App Store, RAZR, Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre and Dolby’s 50th Anniversary. Experienced in global, financial, employee and crisis communications, and agency management working for publicly-traded companies.

Credited in iPad Apps for Dummies forward by (then) USA Today journalist Jinny Gudmundsen; iPhone for Dummies forward by USA Today journalist Ed Baig; Missing Manual iPhone book by (then) New York Times journalist David Pogue; and recognized in the credits (and via cameo appearance) of documentary “BatKid Begins.” Highlighted as one of San Francisco’s “Most Influential Women in Business” by the San Francisco Business Times and Ragan’s “Top Women in Communications” in 2025.

Held executive-level positions: Chief Marketing Officer, Senior Vice President Communications & Creative and as a two-time Global Vice President, Communications.

Jennifer and her husband have two amazing daughters; also in Communications. Alexis just graduated from the University of Alabama and Lyndsey is a senior at the University of South Carolina. While Jennifer worked in Silicon Valley for over half of her career, she has since moved back home (to Georgia) and splits her time between a farm south of Atlanta and a home in the Florida Keys. She has a dog named Kirby and a donkey named Abe. Oh, and fun fact, her family once owned the college hangout Steverinos in Athens for many years.

Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management
International Communication Association (ICA) Fellow

Bryan DeAngelis is a partner at Penta, where he provides strategic counsel to clients based on nearly twenty years of experience working at the intersection of government, politics, and business. His expertise lies in financial services, corporate reputation, crisis and issue management, stakeholder persuasion, and public policy. Prior to joining Hamilton Place Strategies in 2019, Bryan was a senior director at a public affairs firm in D.C. where he advised Fortune 500 companies, major consumer brands, trade associations, and non-profits. Bryan has been a trusted advisor to members of Congress and Democratic candidates throughout his career, and he has served as a communications staffer for both Hilary Clinton’s and Senator Dodd’s 2008 presidential campaigns.

Partner at Lexicon Strategies

Chief Communications Officer, City of Lawrenceville

Managing Director Global Communications at Delta Air Lines

Independent Consultant
Formerly the Director of Communications, The Wallace Foundation

Independent Researcher

Senior Director of Communications

Global Public Affairs, Communications & Sustainability Senior Director
Campari Group, Italy

Associate Professor in Corporate Communication
Ghent University, Belgium

Professor, Department of Management
Aarhus University, Denmark

Dr. Sungsu Kim is an Associate Professor in the School of Communication at Kookmin University, Seoul, South Korea. He currently serves as the Executive Director of the Korean Academic Society for Public Relations. His research areas include public relations, crisis communication, artificial intelligence (AI), and strategic health communication. He has attempted to adopt an interdisciplinary approach to unearthing the role of AI in diverse organizations’ communication with their publics and focused on exploring the role of crisis distance in determining how publics perceive and react to crises in different contexts ranging from organizational crisis to health crisis and disasters. His research has appeared in various referred journals such as Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, Public Relations Review, and Health Communication.

Head of the School of Communication Studies at Auckland University of Technology

Head of Corporate Communication
Silkeborg Kommune, Denmark

Associate Professor at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Professor of Communication Management (Practice) at the Lee Kong Chian School of Business; Associate Dean (Partnerships & Engagement) as well as Academic Director, MSc in Communication Management
Singapore Management University, Singapore

Managing Partner
Akkanto, Belgium

Managing Director
Conducttr Germany GmbH, Germany

Founder & CEO, Imagem Corporativa, Brazil
Imagem Corporativa, Brazil

Assistant Professor of Crisis Management, Strategic Communications

Department Head, Department of Insurance, Legal Studies and Real Estate
Terry College of Business, UGA

Lecturer, Legal Studies
Terry College of Business, UGA

Crisis & Emergency Risk Communication Consultant. Vice President, International Association of Risk & Crisis Communication (IARCC).

Prof. Dr. Yang/Alice Cheng is a tenured associate professor in the Department of Communication and an adjunct professor at the Poole College of Management, NCSU.

Transformational leader with 27 years of experience in business development, consulting and delivery of global IT security solutions across a diverse set of industries with Fortune 500 and public-sector organizations. Jeff is a graduate of Northern Arizona University and earned his Executive MBA from Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia. 

Mr. Lupo is a Senior Public Service Associate with the University of Georgia Carl Vinson Institute of Government, Information Technology Outreach Service (CVIOG ITOS) and serves in the role as the UGA CyberArch Coordinator. He has been with UGA since 2005, specializing in small business consulting, business continuity, emergency preparedness and cybersecurity. Mr. Lupo has a passion for working with community organizations, helping others successfully identify the path, and the resources, needed to develop a stronger cybersecurity infrastructure and posture against a rising threat landscape.

Flora Hung-Baesecke (Ph.D., University of Maryland) teaches at University of Technology Sydney. She publishes at peer-reviewed journals and has won several faculty top papers at international conferences. Hung-Baesecke is on the advisory board of International Public Relations Research Conference and on the editorial boards of Journal of Public Relations Research, Public Relations Review, and International Journal of Strategic Communication and Communication Research Reports. She was the ICA PR Division Chair and has served and chaired in several ICA-wide committees. Her research interests include CSR and sustainability communication, employee communication, organisational purpose, digital/social media, organization-public relationships, and stakeholder management.

Silvia Ravazzani (PhD) is Associate Professor of Management at the Department of Business LECB “Carlo A. Ricciardi”, Università IULM, Italy.

Matthew R. Auer is Dean and Arch Professor of Public and International Affairs at the School of Public and International Affairs, University of Georgia (UGA). Prior to his appointment at UGA, Auer served as Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine. 

Dr. Brett Robertson (Ph. D., The University of Texas at Austin) is an assistant professor in the College of Information and Communications at the University of South Carolina. He studies communication technology use in organizational, risk, and mass communication contexts. His research projects explore how individuals use social media and mobile devices in the workplace and disaster-related contexts. Much of his recent focus has been on disaster preparedness and prevention communication.

Kristin Gearty, an award-winning healthcare communications specialist, is experienced in issues management and crisis communications, having worked at global agencies, corporations and non-profit organizations. Her representative experience includes COVID-19 crisis communications, clinical trial disruptions and discontinuations, black box warnings on RX medications, treatment shortages, spokesperson scandals; and major health crisis events such as the rare disease drug price protests, anti-hormone movement and the implosion of the silicone breast implant industry. Currently, Kristin is a senior communications specialist at a new women’s health biotech. Kristin earned her B.A. in English at Colgate University and Goucher College. She also studied Russian Language & Literature at Johns Hopkins University.

Director of Fundraising and Communication
Civil Rights Defenders, Sweden

Senior Researcher (Associate Professor) in Risk and Crisis Communication
Technische Universität Ilmenau, Germany

Dr. Morgan Taylor is the Associate Director of the Institute for Disaster Management and an Assistant Research Scientist at the University of Georgia. She holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Emory University, an MPH in Disaster Management, and a PhD in Epidemiology and Biostatistics with a focus on data analysis and modeling. Her work emphasizes public health and disaster management communications, including emergency notification systems, data integration, and simulation modeling to improve preparedness and response. She focuses on translating complex data into actionable communication strategies that support timely, accurate, and accessible messaging during crises.

Amitabh Verma is a Visual Communicator whose expertise derives from his background in architecture, graphic design, and visual composition. With extensive experience in teaching as well as professional practice, his work integrates both the theoretical and applied aspects of design. His interest is in maximizing the impact of crisis messaging by framing content within architectural techniques recognized for their efficacy, aesthetic appeal, and accessibility.

He obtained a BArch (with Honors) from Mumbai University and an MLA (with Distinction) from the University of Georgia. He worked at architecture and urban design firms in Atlanta for 12 years before starting to teach in 2006 at the University of Georgia, where he is an Associate Professor at the College of Environment + Design.

Santosh Vijaykumar is an associate professor and public engagement lead, as well as the director of the Cognitive and Health Infodemics Research Programme (CHIRP) at Northumbria University, United Kingdom.

Pablo Halpern is a reputation strategist. He has provided counsel to presidents of countries and over 100 multinational corporations. He was Senior Counselor for Edelman in its Washington, DC office. He served as the Director of Communications for the Chilean government, where he was responsible for communications strategy, international marketing, and public opinion research. Between 2007 and 2024, he was a member of the Dean’s Advisory Board for the Annenberg School for Communications at the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Halpern holds a PhD in Communications from the Annenberg School for Communications at the University of Pennsylvania, an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, an MA from the Grady School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Georgia, and a BA in Social Psychology from Boston University.

Head of External Communications & Government Affairs
Piaggio Aerospace, Italy

Laurel Sprague, M.S., is a communications leader with 15 years of experience in public relations, digital strategy, and crisis communication. She currently serves as Brand Reputation Senior Manager at Inspire Brands, where she oversees day-to-day crisis response and reputation management for a portfolio of global restaurant brands. Laurel specializes in incident management, executive communications, social listening strategy, and cross-functional risk mitigation. She has led enterprise-level initiatives to strengthen media guidelines, social media governance, and integrated issues management frameworks. 

Su Lin Yeo is an Associate Professor of Communication Management (Practice) at the Singapore Management University. She serves on the Faculty Senate and additionally sits on national health boards as an advisor on stakeholder engagement and communication. She teaches a range of full-credit communication modules in the business school which includes the MBA and EMBA. Her primary research interests focus primarily on Corporate Reputation, Crisis Communication, and Public Health Communication. She has 12 years of professional experience managing corporate communication and investor relations in the banking and financial services prior to pursuing a career in academia.

Patrick D. Conner joined the University of Georgia School of Law in 2014, and he leads courses with a concentration in drafting for litigation, internal investigations and contracts. He was recognized with the school’s inaugural Carol A. Watson Award for Outstanding Legal Research or Writing Instructor in 2020 and then received the award again in 2021 and 2024.

Conner has 14 years of experience as an attorney at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius in Washington, D.C., where he was promoted to partner in 2007. At this firm, he specialized in high-stakes litigation and regulatory investigations. He also served as chair of the Morgan Lewis Washington Office Professional Development Committee that provided training and professional development instruction to over 100 associates. Previously, he worked with Fellows, Johnson & La Briola in Atlanta, Ga., from 1998 to 2000, where he primarily focused on commercial cases in federal and state courts.

Conner’s work has been published in Investment Lawyer, and he has been quoted in Investment Adviser Week as well as the Washington Post.

He is also a member of UGA’s Crisis Communication Coalition within the Crisis Communication Think Tank, which collaborates globally on advancing crisis communication leadership.

He earned his bachelor’s degree cum laude and with honors in 1995 and his Juris Doctor cum laude in 1998, both from UGA.

Tom Crosson is a seasoned, award-winning communications leader with over 17 years of experience across Fortune 500 companies and the U.S. Government. He is currently a Managing Director at Joele Frank, a leading strategic financial communications and investor relations firm. Tom provides counsel and communications support to companies involved in a broad range of special situations and high-profile corporate events. Those include proxy contests, mergers and acquisitions, crisis management, along with advising on ongoing corporate communications strategies.
Prior to his current role, Tom held senior corporate communications roles at Norfolk Southern, Inspire Brands, Truist Financial, and SunTrust Banks. He began his career on Capitol Hill, where he served as Senior Advisor to Rep. Mike Turner (Ohio), Press Secretary to Rep. Rob Wittman (Virginia), and on the staff of the House Oversight Committee.
Tom is a member of the Arthur W. Page Society’s Page Up, the Financial Communications Society, and the National Eagle Scout Association. He earned a BA in political science and economics from Purdue University, and an MBA in strategy from the Goizueta Business School at Emory University.

Professor in Strategic Communication
Lund University, Sweden

Dr. James Ndone teaches public relations and research methods at Coastal Carolina University, South Carolina. His research focuses on crisis communication, particularly the role of emotions in influencing public perception and organizational outcomes. Originally from Kenya, Dr. Ndone’s background includes journalism with Nation Media Group and public relations at Mission for Essential Drugs and Supplies (MEDS). He earned his MA in communication from Illinois State University and completed his PhD at the Missouri School of Journalism in 2021.

Martin Riecken is an internationally experienced communications leader with over 25 years in crisis and corporate communications, internal communications & engagement, restructuring as well as transformational projects. He has held senior leadership roles in global corporations such as TUI Group, where he built and led the company’s international crisis communications framework and oversaw internal communications for up to 65,000 employees during the COVID-19 pandemic. His earlier career includes roles at Deutsche Lufthansa and E.ON. In March 2015, he was part of the crisis team responding to the Germanwings 4U 9525 crash in the French Alps. Since July 2025, he works as an independent consultant, advising organisations on high-stakes issues including operational crises, disasters, litigation, restructuring, M&A, and change programs. His focus is on strategic leadership in crises. In addition to his consulting work, Martin contributes to academic research and professional discourse as a member of the University of Georgia’s Crisis Communication Think Tank (CCTT) and the Crisis & Issues Management Expert Committee of the German PR Association DPRG, helping to bridge theory and practice in the field of crisis and reputation management. He frequently speaks at international conferences and is a university lecturer for crisis communications, and has published several articles and case studies on crisis communications.

Taylor Voges, Ph.D., is a champion for integrating analytics into everyday communication strategies, and applying innovative approaches to better showcase the impact of clients’ marketing campaigns. With an additional background in communications research, film and television, digital media and politics, she understands the need to view work holistically and encourages others to embrace an integrated approach to work and life. Taylor completed her doctorate at the University of Georgia in mass communications with an emphasis in public relations ethics and morality, where she studied practitioners’ willingness to advocate during times of issues or crises. Along the way, she developed a strong passion for bridging the impact of the academy and communication practice, which led to her work as a research and analytics consultant for high-profile clients—especially those dealing with issues or crises. In addition, Taylor has published book chapters and research in various academic journals on topics like public relations ethics and law, crisis spillover and more.

Professor, Department of Media and Communication
University of Oslo, Norway

Ejae Lee, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of public relations at Boston University’s College of Communication. Her research focuses on exploring how organizations can communicate with stakeholders to enhance authenticity and cultivate sustainable relationships between organizations and stakeholders on a global scale. As a research fellow at the Arthur W. Page Center for Integrity in Public Communication at Penn State University, she leads an international project on authenticity in prosocial corporate communication. Lee’s work aims to provide practical insights for global organizations and communication professionals, as well as advance public relations theories.

Dr. Sarah Marschlich is an Assistant Professor in Communication, Organizations, and Society at the Amsterdam School of Communication Research (ASCoR), University of Amsterdam. She earned her PhD from the University of Fribourg in 2020 and has held research and teaching roles at the University of Zurich and Zayed University Dubai. Since 2024, she has been the Head of Scientific Committee of EUPRERA and formerly served on the Swiss Association of Communication and Media Research board. Her research and teaching center on strategic communication and public relations, focusing on organizational reputation and legitimacy, crisis communication, and socio-political responsibilities.

Xuerong Lu is an Assistant Professor at Oregon State University’s School of Communication. As a public relations and crisis communication scholar, her research examines how organizations effectively and accurately communicate crises to the public in a complex and conflict-laden informational environment. Her work pays attention to strategic conflict management, exploring how organizations navigate competing narratives and manage public trust during a crisis. She is especially interested in examining the social, cognitive, affective, and physiological mechanisms underlying publics’ crisis information consumption experience.

Simon specializes in complex issue management, disinformation mitigation, and reputational risk, drawing on two decades of public and private sector experience. In public service, he led strategic communications teams, including NATO-aligned operations, and was awarded an MBE by Queen Elizabeth II for countering a terrorist organization in the cognitive domain. He has advised national defense institutions on Grey Zone threats, developed scalable methodologies for audience analysis, and trained elite teams in integrated problem-solving. In the private sector, Simon has supported organizations across industries with market exits, disinformation response, and reputational crises, helping clients remain resilient under intense scrutiny and global pressure.

Dr. Minttu Tikka is Research Manager at CUBE, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL). She specializes in crisis and risk communication, focusing on digital media environments. Her PhD from the University of Helsinki examined citizen participation and social behavior on social media during crises. Her research covers information disorder, terrorism-related crisis communication, collaborative sensemaking, and digital ethnography of violent events. Internationally active, she served on the editorial team of the Journal of International Crisis and Risk Communication and represents Finland in the EU COST Action AlertHub (2024–2028), a network advancing warning communication knowledge across Europe.

Mark Badham is Senior Lecturer in Public Relations at Leeds Beckett University, UK. The focus of his practitioner experience, teaching and research has been on organisations’ strategic communication in digital environments, particularly through the news and social media and during crisis events. Mark’s recent research addresses public relations attitudes and solutions to complex organisational communication challenges presented in digital and social media environments. Prior to joining academia, Mark worked for 20 years as a public relations practitioner for governments, politicians, corporations and NFPs in Australia. 

Jonathan Peters is the associate dean for academic affairs and the Carter Chair for Excellence in Journalism at the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. He also holds a faculty appointment in the School of Law. He teaches and researches media law and policy, and he is currently serving a four-year term as a member of the Panel of Experts on Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association within the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and its Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, based in Vienna and Warsaw, respectively.