Jay M. Bernhardt

Jay M. Bernhardt (born 1969) is an American public health specialist and academic. Bernhardt has served as the president of Emerson College since June 2023. He was previously the dean of the Moody College of Communication at The University of Texas at Austin from 2016 to 2023.

Early life and education
Bernhardt was born and grew up in Princeton, New Jersey. He attended Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, where he earned a B.A. in sociology and minored in computer science. He earned a Master of Public Health (MPH) degree from Rutgers and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. Bernhardt earned his Ph.D. in public health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) with an interdisciplinary focus on health communication. He's been inducted into honor societies including the Cap and Skull Society at Rutgers and the Order of the Grail-Valkyries at UNC, and received awards including the Everett M. Rogers Award for Excellence in Health Communication and the Jay S. Drotman Memorial Award from the American Public Health Association.

Career
Bernhardt began his academic career as an assistant professor in the School of Health and Human Performance at the University of Georgia in 1999 before joining the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University in 2001. From 2005 to 2010, Bernhardt worked at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), where he directed the National Center for Health Marketing, overseeing and advancing the agency's communication, marketing, partnerships, and new media innovations. In 2010, he joined the School of Health and Human Performance at the University of Florida, where he served as department chair, professor and center director. He joined UT Austin in July 2014 as professor, established the Center for Health Communication and was named interim dean in 2015.

Bernhardt became the sixth dean of the Moody College of Communication on March 1, 2016. Bernhardt's tenure has led to the development of many new programs including a four-year honors program, B.A. degree in communication and leadership and a “study away” program in New York City known as UTNY. He increased graduate student funding and the four-year graduation rate to 80 percent, among the highest on campus. He's recruited more than 50 new faculty members and established new research centers, institutes and programs. He's also prioritized issues of diversity, equity and inclusion and established the college’s first associate dean position with this portfolio.

Bernhardt became the thirteenth president of Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts, assuming the position following the resignation of former president M. Lee Pelton in June 2021. The Emerson College SGA called for Bernhardt's resignation due to his part in the arrest of 130 students between March and April 2024.

Research
His research is focused on digital health through the application of communication and technology to public health and healthcare. He was among the first to research wireless mobile technology for health-related data collection and personalized text messages, and the application of new and social media for health communication. His research has been funded by the National Institutes for Health, the Food and Drug Administration, the CDC, and other agencies and foundations.