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Vince Benigni has two decades of experience in public relations and mass media. He teaches the public relations sequence (Public Relations Practices/Comm 235, Public Relations Writing /Comm 335 and Public Relations Campaigns/Comm 435), as well as Mass Media (Comm 214) and Sports Writing (Comm 327).

Dr. Benigni received his Ph.D. in Mass Communication at the University of Georgia (UGA) in 1999. While at UGA, he served a three-year research assistantship with the prestigious George Foster Peabody Awards, considered the world's premier broadcast award. His previous degrees came from Indiana University of Pennsylvania (Journalism) in 1983 and Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania (English) in 1986.

For 10 years, Dr. Benigni was a sports information director (SID), beginning with a two-year stint as an assistant SID at the U.S. Naval Academy from 1986-88. Among his duties was being the primary media contact for National Player of the Year David Robinson in men's basketball. From 1988-96, he was SID for a 22-sport program at Mary Washington College (VA).

Dr. Benigni's research interests include sports communication and public relations education. Three of his manuscripts (lead author in each) "The Role of Clients in the Public Relations Campaigns Course", "Teaching Public Relations Campaigns: The Current State of the Art" and "To Evolve is to Involve: Analyzing Student Choice in the Introduction to Public Relations Class," have been published in Journalism and Mass Communication Educator (J&MCE). The first two articles were named Top Papers at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) national conference. He is also lead author for an AEJMC paper ("A Sense of Agency: Utilizing Firms in the Public Relations Campaigns Course" that is being submitted to PRism Journal.

He is a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Public Relations Research and Journalism & Mass Communication Educator (JMCE). He was chosen in 2006 to be the new editor of the Graduate Teaching Academy section of JMCE.

A summary of his dissertation, a study of external communication strategies in sports heritage venues, was presented at the International Association of Sports Museums and Halls of Fame Conference in Fall 1999. In Summer 1998, Dr. Benigni co-produced a video for the Ty Cobb Museum (Royston, GA) that was a finalist for the prestigious Vision Award.

At College of Charleston, he is adviser for the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA). The College's chapter (established in 2003) is one of only two in the state, along with the University of South Carolina. The chapter received a national award from PRSSA for chapter development in 2005. Dr. Benigni is also on the board for the statewide chapter of the Public Relations Society of America, in charge of student relations.

As chair of the Department's Awards and Events Committee, he oversees the annual departmental Awards Banquet and the Distinguished Communicators Series, and has organized other programs, including the annual Networking Fair. He also instituted the department's Public Relations Forum, a semi-annual gathering of area communication experts. He was the first recipient of the prestigious Department Chair's Award in 2004, and again received the award in 2006. Student leaders from PRSSA and Lambda Pi Eta voted him the Department's Teacher of the Year in 2006.

Dr. Benigni is also a member of the Cougar Club (athletics) Board of Directors, serving on various fund raising and steering committees. He has served as Interim Faculty Representative to the Southern Conference on three occasions. He is authoring a book titled True Maroon: A Pictorial History of College of Charleston Athletics, to be published in Fall 2007.

He is also a member of the department's Corporate and Organizational Communication and Media Studies curriculum committees.