McMaster University

Dr. Terry Flynn is one of Canada’s leading public relations/communications management researchers and an important bridge between the academy and the profession.

Following a 20-yearcommunications consulting career, Terry joined the faculty of McMaster University after completing his Ph.D. studies at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. During his professional career, he built an international practice specializing in crisis and risk communications and public/community engagement.

His advice and counsel have also been internationally recognized by: the Canadian Public Relations Society (CPRS); and the International Association of Business Communicators. Terry’s scholarly work has been published in the Journal of Public Relations Research, Public Relations Journal, Canadian Journal of Communication, Corporate Communications, and the Journal of Professional Communications. In 2015, Dr. Flynn was given the prestigious Philip A. Novikoff Award by the CPRS, for superior contributions to the advancement of the profession in Canada and throughout the world.

He is a member of several professional and academic organizations including: the CPRS– and was its elected President in 2009-2010; the Institute for Public Relations (Board of Trustees); the International Association of Business Communicators; the Arthur W. Page Society; the Canadian Communications Association; and the Association for Educators in Journalism and Mass Communication.

Terry is currently on the faculty of the Department of Communication Studies & Media Arts at McMaster University in Hamilton, where he founded Canada’s first and only Master of Communications Management degree program in 2007.  Dr. Flynn’s innovative teaching style was recognized in 2010 and 2011 when he was named “Professor of the Year” by the DeGroote School of Business. In 2015, Dr. Flynn was given the prestigious Philip A. Novikoff Award by the CPRS, for superior contributions to the advancement of the profession in Canada and throughout the world. In 2018 he was named “Mentor of the Year” by the Canadian Public Relations Society. In 2021 he won the Heather Pullen Award for Ethics in Public Relations and most recently in June 2023 he was named the inaugural Argyle/CPRS Thought Leader award winner.