Rita Men

Linjuan Rita Men, Ph.D., APR, is a Professor of Public Relations and Director of Internal Communication Research in the College of Journalism and Communications at the University of Florida. She founded and directs the Internal Communication Research Hub, a virtual space dedicated to promoting innovative research and best practices in internal communication.

With a background primarily in corporate communication research and consulting, Men’s research interests include internal communication, leadership communication, emerging technologies, and entrepreneurial communications. Men has published more than 90 articles in refereed journals, such as Communication Research, New Media and Society, Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, Computers in Human Behavior, Telematics and Informatics, Journal of Public Relations Research, Public Relations Review, Management Communication Quarterly, and as book chapters. She is the (co-) author/editor of four books, Excellence in Internal Communication Management (Business Expert Press, 2017), Strategic Communications for Startups and Entrepreneurs in China (Routledge, 2020), Current Trends and Issues in Internal Communication: Theory and Practice (Palgrave Macmillan, 2021), and Internal Communication and Employee Engagement: A Case Study (Routledge, 2023). Men was identified as the most published scholar in internal communication (1970-2019) and in social media and public relations (2006-2020) respectively, according to two systematic review articles published in Public Relations Review. Her work has been cited over 8,300 times with Google Scholar Citations h-index 42 and i10-index 67 as of July 2023. Men serves as an associate editor for the Journal of Communication Management and sits on the editorial board of seven journals in strategic communication including the Journal of Public Relations Research, Public Relations Review, Management Communication Quarterly, Public Relations Journal, International Journal of Strategic Communication, Journal of Interactive Advertising, and Communication Research Report.

Men’s contributions to the field have been widely recognized through over 30 top paper/research awards and recognitions from national and international communication associations and conferences. She is the 2010 recipient of the Ketchum Excellence in Public Relations Research Award from the Institute for Public Relations (IPR), the 2016 recipient of the PRIDE Outstanding Journal Article Award for Outstanding Innovation, Development, and Educational Achievement in Public Relations from the National Communication Association (NCA), a 2017-2022 Plank Scholar of the Plank Center for Leadership in Public Relations, and the 2022 recipient of the prestigious Hillier Krieghbaum Under-40 Award from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC). She also received twice the Faculty Research Award from the College of Journalism and Communications and was awarded the 2021 University of Florida Term Professorship.

Accredited in public relations, Men has worked internationally with Alibaba Group, Inc., Ketchum, Inc., and provided management communication consulting for various multinational corporations, startups, and non-profit organizations. She is a member of the Arthur W. Page Society and an advisory board member of the International Public Relations Research Conference (IPRRC) and the International Association for the Measurement and Evaluation of Communication (AMEC). She also served as Chief Research Editor for the Institute for Public Relations’ Organizational Communication Research Center (2016-2020) and on the operating committee of the Arthur W. Page Society’s Page Up (2020-2021). Men is a sought-after speaker and has been invited to present her research in multiple countries in Asia, Europe, and the Americas. She recently served as the instructor of the Employee Communication Master Class and a thesis coach for the Executive Master in Corporate Communication program at the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University in the Netherlands.

Men holds a Ph.D. in Communication from the University of Miami, an M.Phil in Communication from Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, and a B.A. in International Communication with an honors minor in Innovation and Entrepreneurship from Chukochen Honors College at Zhejiang University in China.