Luke Capizzo Ph.D., APR

Luke Capizzo

Associate Professor

Department
  • Advertising + Public Relations
capizzol@msu.edu

Bio

Luke Capizzo (Ph.D., APR) is an associate professor of public relations in the Department of Advertising + PR (College of Communication Arts & Sciences) at Michigan State University. Having earned his M.A. and Ph.D. at the University of Maryland, he joined MSU in fall 2024 after five years on the tenure track—two years at the University of Missouri and three at James Madison University. A PR researcher, educator, and practitioner, his scholarly interests include (1) public relations and social issues management; (2) applied social impact—activism, DEI, dialogue, organizational listening, and sustainability/environmental justice; and (3) public relations pedagogy, profession, and research review scholarship. Broadly, his research examines the potential societal contributions of organizations through the public relations function. His peer-reviewed research has been published in multiple journals including the Journal of Public Relations Research, Public Relations Review, Public Relations Inquiry, International Journal of Strategic Communication, Corporate Communications: An International Journal, Journal of Marketing Communications, and Journal of Public Relations Education. He serves on multiple editorial boards including JPRR, PR Review, and IJSC. His research has been funded as an Arthur W. Page Legacy Scholar (2020, 2022, 2023). He also has a book under contract with Routledge examining public relations and social impact.

Prior to earning his Ph.D., Capizzo practiced public relations at agencies and for statewide organizations in Michigan, with a focus on media relations, branding, and internal communication in the commercial real estate, financial services, manufacturing, retail, and technology industries. Dr. Capizzo drove strategic communication programs for a wide variety of clients including Fortune 50 companies, startups and advocacy organizations. He teaches across the undergraduate public relations curriculum, Advertising & Public Relations M.A. program, and the Information & Media Ph.D. program. He is also the faculty advisor for MSU's Ned S. Hubbell Chapter of PRSSA.

He is also the author of two textbooks (with Dr. Regina Luttrell of Syracuse University)—Public Relations Campaigns: An Integrated Approach (3rd edition) with Sage, and The PR Agency Handbook (2nd edition, also with Adrienne Wallace of Grand Valley State University).

Related Work

Recent Publications

Capizzo, L., & Bao, J. (2026). Critical organizational listening for ethical public relations practice PR Review (Special issue on critical PR). Public Relations Review, 52(4), 102730.

Aghazadeh, S. A., Capizzo, L., & Tindall, N. T. (2026). Power and Mobilized Grievance: Theorizing Revanchist Activism in Public Relations. Journal of Public Relations Research, 1-23.

Capizzo, L., Toth, E., Morehouse, J., Page, T. G., & Zhou, A. (2026). Articulating a Center: An Analysis of the Strategic Management Paradigm in Public Relations. Journal of Public Relations Research, 1-28.

Zhang, B., Xiao, A., Capizzo, L., Chen, Y., & Cropp, F. (2025). For Whom Does CSA Matter? A Transnational Study Profiling Citizen CSA Expectations in Australia, Belgium, China, and the US. Journal of Promotion Management, 31(5), 743-770.

Iannacone, J. I., Ashby-King, D. T., Nzau, T., Balozwi, B., Ali, H. M., Rahyadi, I., & Capizzo, L. (2025). The MNO (Pro) social license to operate: Globalized public relations in Bangladesh, Botswana, Indonesia, and Kenya. Journal of Public Relations Research, 37(5), 425-446.

Capizzo, L., Wallace, A., Logan, N., & Place, K. (2025). Accomplices in the public relations classroom: An autoethnography of social-justice and anti-racism-informed teaching. Public Relations Inquiry, 14(2), 151-182.

Gonzalez, A. M., & Capizzo, L. (2025). The role of moral decoupling on corporate social advocacy support: Testing moral decoupling theory across causes. Management Communication Quarterly, 39(4), 681-712.

Germinder, L. A., & Capizzo, L. (2025). A strategic communication practitioner imperative: contextualizing responsible AI as part of responsible advocacy. International Journal of Strategic Communication, 19(2), 340-356.

Capizzo, L., Nzau, T., Oduolowu, D., Duffy, M., & Brengarth, L. (2024). Permanent scars, improvisation and new paths forward: Communication agency leadership responses to COVID-19. Corporate Communications: An International Journal, 29(3), 362-383.

Capizzo, L., Perryman, B. R., Nzau, T., & Ferguson, H. (2024). Diagnosing shared crises as acute intractability: Organizing crises and intractable issues in public relations theory. Public Relations Review, 50(1), 102427.

Page, T. G., & Capizzo, L. W. (2024). Toward a tent-driven model of organizations: Stakeholders, permeability, and multiple identities in public relations theory. Public Relations Review, 50(1), 102429.

Page, T. G., Capizzo, L. W., & Penning, T. (2024). A case for the plausibility of public relations licensing: The carrot of privileged communication. Public Relations Review, 50(1), 102408.

Page, T. G., Morehouse, J., Capizzo, L. W., Toth, E. L., & Zhou, A. (2024). To Share or Not to Share: Examining Social Media in Public Relations Scholarship. International Journal of Strategic Communication, 1-21.

Capizzo, L., Pevac, M., & Madden, S. (2023). It’s about (damn) time: Community, temporality, and feminist values in activist public relations history. Public Relations Review, 49(2), 102313.

Capizzo, L., & Sommerfeldt, E. J. (2023). Cultivating listening spaces for civil society: Reorienting public relations amid Hannah Arendt’s urgent pluralism. Public Relations Review, 49(4), 102351.

Capizzo, L., & Harrison, V. (2023). Theorizing CSA’s impact on nonprofit stewardship: New challenges for ethical corporate partnerships and issue engagement. Public Relations Review, 49(1), 102293.

Capizzo, L., & Iannacone, J. I. (2023). Citizen brand: The emergence of brandstanding as organizational engagement and civic duty. Public Relations Review, 49(2), 102307.

Contact Information

404 Wilson Rd, Room 373
Communication Arts and Sciences Building
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824