HAMPTON, Va. (Jan. 13, 2021) – Hampton University, one of the nation’s leading historically Black universities, welcomes Julia Wilson as an adjunct professor to its award-winning Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications. Wilson brings more than two decades of experience as an international public relations consultant and global marketing-communications pioneer.
“We are pleased to have Julia Wilson share her vast international experience and knowledge with our students at Hampton University,” said Dr. William R. Harvey, president of the 150-year-old institution, whose notable alumni include Booker T. Washington, Rosa Parks and the mother of Martin Luther King Jr., Alberta Williams King. Hampton was founded in 1868 by Black and white leaders of the American Missionary Association, shortly after the Civil War, to provide education to freedmen.
Wilson is the CEO and founder of Wilson Global Communications LLC, a strategic international communications and public relations consultancy in Washington, D.C. She will teach International Journalism and Communications on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4 to 5:15 p.m. in the spring semester of 2021. The class is a cross-cultural study of journalism and communications in the “global village.”
“We are thrilled to have Julia join our faculty,” said Dean B. DáVida Plummer. “We feel blessed to have access to her talent.”
A former print and TV journalist, Wilson covered the 1994 election of Nelson Mandela as president of South Africa for KCOP-TV in Los Angeles. Following the election, she lived in Africa for several years. She also covered the presidential inauguration of Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf in Liberia, and has served as the book publicist for “Trailblazer,” authored by Dorothy Butler Gilliam, the first African American female reporter at The Washington Post.
In addition to managing a 40-member network of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), the HBCU-China Network student study abroad program, Wilson oversaw the English-Mandarin translation of Hampton University President. Dr. William R. Harvey’s book, “Principles of Leadership: The Harvey Leadership Model,” and launched the book at the 2018 Beijing International Book Fair.
“I am delighted to join Hampton’s distinguished journalism and communications faculty,” Wilson said. “One of my passions is encouraging young people to explore international opportunities – internships and job opportunities in journalism and public relations. My goal is to bring textbooks to life and provide a real-world view of the communications industry. We will explore the importance of being sensitive to other people’s cultures, social mores and taboos, and we will evaluate news coverage of social injustice in this Black Lives Matter era.”
A native of Tulsa, Okla., Wilson received a Fulbright grant from the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs in 2010 and lectured at leading universities in Paris and Lyon, France. She previously taught public relations and media writing classes as an adjunct at the University of Southern California, her alma mater, where she graduated with honors. She also provided lectures on international public relations at the Hebei University of Science & Technology in Qinhuangdao, China. Wilson has been published in the HuffPost, Ebony.com and Presidency Key Brief in France, and in recent months, contributed essays on social justice, diversity and inclusion to the USC Center of Public Diplomacy blog site and the USC Center for Public Relations Relevance Report in the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.