Brandon Szuminsky
Communications SpecIalist, PRofessor, Journalist
Brandon Szuminsky is a Senior Manager, Internal Communications at UPMC in Pittsburgh, part of the Internal Communications team serving the health care system’s 92,000 employees at more than 40 hospitals. Szuminsky provides communications support for clinical care delivery clients who work at the patient's bedside, covering infection prevention, patient safety, quality improvement, and more. His work includes executive support of the Office of Health Care Innovation and significant work on COVID-19 vaccination.
From 2017-2020, he was an assistant professor in the Department of Communication Arts and Sciences at Baldwin Wallace University, where he taught journalism, media literacy and media production courses and is the faculty advisor to the student newspaper, The Exponent.
Before joining Baldwin Wallace, Szuminsky was an instructor of communication at Waynesburg University for eight years, where he guided student journalists at The Yellow Jacket to more than 55 regional, state and national journalism awards.
He received the Lucas D. Hathaway Award for Teaching Excellence from Waynesburg University in 2012 and following his first year at Baldwin Wallace was nominated for both the Student Senate Faculty Excllence Award and Student Organization Advisor of the Year. Szuminsky was also a 2018 Fellow of the Scripps Howard Journalism Entrepreneurship Institute at Arizona State’s Cronkite School of Journalism and a 2014 graduate of the SPJ Ted Scripps Howard Leadership Institute.
From 2017-2020, he was an assistant professor in the Department of Communication Arts and Sciences at Baldwin Wallace University, where he taught journalism, media literacy and media production courses and is the faculty advisor to the student newspaper, The Exponent.
Before joining Baldwin Wallace, Szuminsky was an instructor of communication at Waynesburg University for eight years, where he guided student journalists at The Yellow Jacket to more than 55 regional, state and national journalism awards.
He received the Lucas D. Hathaway Award for Teaching Excellence from Waynesburg University in 2012 and following his first year at Baldwin Wallace was nominated for both the Student Senate Faculty Excllence Award and Student Organization Advisor of the Year. Szuminsky was also a 2018 Fellow of the Scripps Howard Journalism Entrepreneurship Institute at Arizona State’s Cronkite School of Journalism and a 2014 graduate of the SPJ Ted Scripps Howard Leadership Institute.
Szuminsky recently completed his third year as an Assistant Professor of Journalism at Baldwin Wallace University, outside Cleveland, which followed eight years in the Department of Communication at Waynesburg University: three years as a tenure-track instructor and the preceding five as an adjunct lecturer with a three/three course load.
At both positions he has served as the lead faculty member for journalism and writing-intensive courses within the department. He has experience teaching a variety of writing courses, from those focused on journalistic pursuits — including introductory journalism, narrative and feature writing, online journalism, and broadcast journalism — to more general writing courses like “Business and Professional Writing” and “Writing for Web 2.0,” which covered writing concepts for the social media age. His courses also included convergent skills, like audio-video production, design and layout, and social media strategies.
Beyond writing-intensive courses, Szuminsky has also taught a introductory survey communication course for six years, as well as additional courses covering mass media history, media research methods and theory, and media literacy.
At both positions he has served as the lead faculty member for journalism and writing-intensive courses within the department. He has experience teaching a variety of writing courses, from those focused on journalistic pursuits — including introductory journalism, narrative and feature writing, online journalism, and broadcast journalism — to more general writing courses like “Business and Professional Writing” and “Writing for Web 2.0,” which covered writing concepts for the social media age. His courses also included convergent skills, like audio-video production, design and layout, and social media strategies.
Beyond writing-intensive courses, Szuminsky has also taught a introductory survey communication course for six years, as well as additional courses covering mass media history, media research methods and theory, and media literacy.
In the past eight years, Szuminsky has completed 23 total publications and conference presentations on a variety of media-related topics. In particular, he has examined the state of journalism from a media ecology perspective, conducted content analysis of major media news websites, and also investigated media framing of controversial news and the spread of misinformation online. In 2018, Szuminsky was selected as one of 13 Fellows for the highly competitive Scripps Howard Journalism Entrepreneurship Institute at Arizona State’s Cronkite School of Journalism.
Szuminsky has also been active with regional and national chapters of the Society of Professional Journalists, the Eastern Communication Association and the Newspaper and Online News Division of AEJMC, including serving as Membership and PF&R chair. He has served as a reviewer or judge for AEJMC, SPJ, and Sage Publications.
Szuminsky's doctoral research focused on a phenomenological investigation of newspaper reporters’ sourcing practices when covering the natural gas extraction of the Marcellus shale in Pennsylvania.
Szuminsky has also been active with regional and national chapters of the Society of Professional Journalists, the Eastern Communication Association and the Newspaper and Online News Division of AEJMC, including serving as Membership and PF&R chair. He has served as a reviewer or judge for AEJMC, SPJ, and Sage Publications.
Szuminsky's doctoral research focused on a phenomenological investigation of newspaper reporters’ sourcing practices when covering the natural gas extraction of the Marcellus shale in Pennsylvania.
Realizing the importance of collegiality and collaboration in an academic department, Szuminsky has long been committed to departmental and university service, recruitment efforts and scholarly collaboration.
He values strong partnerships and have joined with departmental colleagues on everything from week-long Habitat for Humanity service trips to years-long research projects. Szuminsky has experience serving on university-wide curriculum and academic standards committees, as well as myriad of departmental committees and programs. In 2014, he initiated and secured $3,000 in funding for a high school writing contest, which served as a recruitment tool for the Waynesburg Department of Communication.
He has also led or played a direct role in the updating of multiple curricular programs at both Baldwin Wallace and Waynesburg, particularly focused on updating and “future-proofing” majors and minors to be more focused on digital and social skills, and creating two new minors at Baldwin Wallace with digital emphasis: convergent journalism and social media production.
He values strong partnerships and have joined with departmental colleagues on everything from week-long Habitat for Humanity service trips to years-long research projects. Szuminsky has experience serving on university-wide curriculum and academic standards committees, as well as myriad of departmental committees and programs. In 2014, he initiated and secured $3,000 in funding for a high school writing contest, which served as a recruitment tool for the Waynesburg Department of Communication.
He has also led or played a direct role in the updating of multiple curricular programs at both Baldwin Wallace and Waynesburg, particularly focused on updating and “future-proofing” majors and minors to be more focused on digital and social skills, and creating two new minors at Baldwin Wallace with digital emphasis: convergent journalism and social media production.
