SCM Welcomes Dr. Bond Benton To Its Public Relations Faculty

This semester, Montclair State welcomes a new Associate Professor of Public Relations, Dr. Bond Benton. Benton comes to Montclair State University with a wide range of international experience, earning his PhD from the University of Vienna and working abroad with the U.S. Department of State for nearly 10 years.

“I worked with local, non-American staff at embassies throughout the world,” Benton said. “The primary purpose of the projects I worked on was improving internal communication between the various constituencies that make up State Department posts.  In many instances, I worked with these groups on the communication, marketing, and storytelling they did in the host countries to improve the American image abroad.”

In addition to his impressive work overseas, Benton has also established himself in the world of higher education, teaching at SUNY Fredonia before making the move to Montclair. “Montclair State has an outstanding reputation and incredible facilities to support a strong PR program,” Benton said.  “What really excites me is Montclair’s proximity to international centers of commerce and culture.  Students in this PR program will be in a position to take on exciting projects for organizations of national and international consequence.”

This semester, Benton is teaching courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, and plans to make his classes as hands-on as possible. “In virtually every course, I ask that my students get out into the community and do actual work related to engagement.  I think teaching shouldn’t be confined to the classroom and should, instead, open up a window to the world.  Every semester, my students show me a new part of that world through their PR work and I’m grateful for it.”