Juan Liu

Dr. Juan Liu joined the faculty of the WVU Reed School of Media and Communications in Fall 2026 as an Associate Professor of Public Relations. Dr. Liu came to the WVU Reed School from Towson University, and she received her doctoral degree from Wayne State University.

Working at the intersection of social media, corporate social advocacy (CSA), and strategic communication, Dr. Liu studies how psychological factors influence the effectiveness of CSA initiatives and public engagement, as well as the persuasive effects of CSA messages on public opinion. She also investigates the nature of crisis misinformation and examines strategies and interventions to correct it. Her work relies mainly on experiments, surveys, and content analysis, and she has added interviews and focus groups to her repertoire.

Dr. Liu has published more than twenty peer-reviewed articles in the areas of public relations, crisis communication, and mass communication. She has secured research grants from the Arthur W. Page Center for Integrity in Public Communication and the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC). Her work has been recognized with Top Paper Awards from AEJMC and the International Public Relations Research Conference (IPRRC).