Marlene Neill

Marlene Neill, Ph.D., APR, Fellow PRSA, is a professor and graduate program director at Baylor University. She teaches courses in public relations and advertising. She also serves as the faculty adviser for the Baylor PRSSA chapter. Her research interests include public relations leadership, internal communication and ethics. She has published more than 40 journal articles and published three books on public relations ethics and leadership.

She has been inducted into the PRSA College of Fellows, is a member of the Arthur W. Page Society, and has received the Outstanding Educator Award from PRSA and the 2023 Teaching Excellence Award from the Media Ethics Division of AEJMC. She also completed the AEJMC Institute for Diverse Leadership program from 2024-2025.

Neill is an accredited member of the Central Texas Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America. She served as the chair for the Southwest District of PRSA in 2011. At the national level, Neill served two three-year terms on the Universal Accreditation Board, which administers the examination for Accreditation in Public Relations; and was appointed to the Board of Ethics & Professionals Standards in January of 2013-December of 2018 and reappointed in 2026. She also serves as a member of the Board of Advisors for the Plank Center for Leadership in Public Relations.

Other leadership experience included serving as the Chair of the PRSA Educators Academy and Division Head for the AEJMC Media Ethics Division.

She received her Ph.D. in advertising from the University of Texas at Austin, her Master of Arts degree in journalism from the University of Missouri at Columbia, and her Bachelor of Science degree in journalism from the University of Kansas.

She previously worked for 12 years in government and nonprofit public relations and 3.5 years as a TV reporter.