You’ve arrived here, admit it, because you’re dying to read my professional bioWhich of course is written in 3rd person because that’s what we academics do.


Carol J. Bruess (rhymes with “peace”), PhD, is Professor Emerita of Communication and Journalism & formerly Director of Family Studies at the University of St. Thomas, MN. Most recently she served 3.5 years as Resident Scholar in the Cassandra Voss Center at St. Norbert College, WI, succeeding Drs. bell hooks and Harry Brod. For three decades she has been a professor, researcher, author, and speaker passionate about the communicative realities of creating healthy relationships through micro-moments of interaction and ritual—specifically the impact of the digital age on in-depth listening, robust conversations, and human empathy. Her five books include Family Communication in the Age of Digital and Social Media (2015, ed., Peter Lang International); Contemporary Issues in Interpersonal Communication (with Mark P. Orbe, Roxbury/Oxford University Press, 2005); and three contemporary self-help books grounded in her original research: What Happy Couples Do (2008), What Happy Parents Do (2009), and What Happy Women Do (2010), (with Anna Kudak, Rowman & Littlefield). She is currently working on two new book projects: Dear Cassie: Lessons for Living the Good Life—a story of turning grief into resounding resilience and doing what you never thought was possible. And an inspirational book series forthcoming about the bumpy road of marriage, How Happy Couples Journey: A Joyful Roadmap for Marriage, including accompanying kits to help couples master the art of creating and sustaining their spark. Carol has presented her work at dozens of national, regional, and international conferences, and published her research in national and international journals. She is a University of Washington, Gottman Relationship Institute, Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work Certified Educator, and a highly sought provider of community-based workshops on creating healthy families and marriages. Her popular TEDx Minneapolis talk “Are All Relationships Messy?” and her TED.com articles about love and human interaction reflect her passion for translating research toward helping others create better relationships and healthier lives. She is a regular contributor to the lifestyle blog Wit & Delight, has given more than 400 TV, podcast, and media interviews, and can be heard on more than four-dozen radio programs including Oprah Radio. She and her husband of 32 years (Brian Bruess, PhD, President of College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University, Minnesota) are currently living on the campus of St. Bens in St. Joseph, MN. They have two adult children: Tony, Stanford University graduate now tech entrepreneur living in New York; and Gracie, graduate of Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, and currently a med student at Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. In her free time she enjoys doing headstands, sewing with vintage fabrics, sharpening her emoji fluency, and drinking hoppy beer—not all at the same time. She’s also busy raising 92lb Bernedoodle George, a certified therapy dog who is happily serving CSB+SJU students as puppy-in-residence.

IMG_2010 Dying for more about academic me? View my curriculum vitae.


A Favorite Collaborative Project

First-generation college access and success is a personal and professional passion of mine. As a first-gen student myself, I’ve long hungered to more systematically advance and explore the issue. In a word, we all can and must do better for our first-gen students and their families. Thanks to a generous grant from the McKnight Foundation, Youthprise, and Minnesota Campus Compact, I co-led a Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) project with 14 absolutely inspiring high school and college students of color, all first-gen youth from Cristo Rey Jesuit High School-Twin Cities and the University of St. Thomas, MN. The results? Pretty darn impressive, the youth researchers WOWing me time and again. Start with the inspiring five-minute video below, then dive into our 44-page Findings Report, available via our project site linked below. #togetherpossibleMN

 http://www.stthomas.edu/togetherpossible/cristorey/