Matthew W. Ragas, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Public Relations in the College of Communication at DePaul University. He holds a B.S. in Business Administration (marketing concentration) and an M.S. in Management, both from the University of Central Florida, and a Ph.D. in Mass Communication from the University of Florida. With over a decade of experience in strategic communication and interactive publishing positions, Matt links theory and practice in his research and teaching. During his doctoral program, he was named the Outstanding Graduate Student Teacher and was awarded the Outstanding Student Research Award.
Matt's interdisciplinary mass media processes and effects research examines the interplay among public relations efforts, news media coverage, and public opinion in corporate and political contexts primarily from an agenda-building / agenda-setting, framing, and priming perspective. His dissertation, which received the Nafziger-White-Salwen dissertation award, explores mass mediated-influence among the priorities displayed in challenger and incumbent candidate information subsidies, business news content, and the online discussions of shareholders during proxy contests (contested corporate elections).
His scholarly research has been published or is forthcoming in Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, Mass Communication & Society, Public Relations Review, International Journal of Strategic Communication, Journal of Health and Mass Communication, Web Journal of Mass Communication Research, Journal of Interactive Learning Research, and International Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences. He is also the author of several edited book chapters. Matt has presented his work, including several Top Papers, at the International Communication Association and the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication conferences.
The author of two trade books with Random House/Crown Business, Matt has consulted for clients in the U.S., Canada, India, and Switzerland on corporate communication strategy and brand positioning. His entrepreneurial background includes being a co-founder and principal of Indie Research, a research provider to institutional and individual investors, and the founding editor of RagingBull, a venture capital-backed online investor community (owned by eSignal, Inc.).
Matt is an active member of the International Communication Association, the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, the National Investor Relations Institute, and the Financial Communications Society. He is a fellow of the Business Journalism Professors program at the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism at Arizona State University.
When he is not working on research or grading papers and projects, Matt maintains the FloridaFoodHound blog which provides "Chicago (and Florida) restaurant reviews and ruminations by a New Orleans native." His family blog, which he publishes with his wonderful wife Traci, may be found at RagasReport. He is passionate about good food, traveling, politics, and the stock market.
