SMC remembers PR professor Jean Brodey

In the 28 years Jean Brodey, EDU ’75, ’79, taught public relations at Temple University, the tough but fair grader renowned for editing with a fierce red pen built strong connections with students who shared her passion for storytelling.

Brodey died April 30 at the age of 85.

Dr. Jean Brodey

Dr. Jean Brodey

The mentoring relationships Brodey built didn’t end when her students graduated. Long after they left the classroom, a small group, who dubbed themselves “The Brodey Bunch,” would meet her for lunch several times a year at the Whitemarsh Valley Inn in Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania, to seek advice and inspiration about their professional goals and their personal lives.

“Although our gatherings began with Jean, surrounded by fresh, new professionals seeking career advice and even leads to our first jobs, throughout the years the group evolved to discussions of not just our professional lives but close bonds of personal friendship,” said Cathy Engel Menendez, JOUR ’93, the senior manager of communications at PECO.

Job finder
As director of the internship program, it was part of Brodey’s job to place students with companies to allow them to gain practical experience in the field before graduating. But, by all accounts, it was more than a job for Brodey. It was her mission.

“She was the go-to person in the community when a company was looking for a PR professional,” said Danielle Cohn, JOUR ’95, vice president of marketing and communications at the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Brodey was a member of the Philadelphia Public Relations Association for nearly 40 years and was inducted into its hall of fame in 1998. For PPRA, she published and mailed out a printed job listing called the “PRSA Placement Service,” which Cohn said helped her get her first three jobs.

And when the job offers came, Cohn said her mentees would go to Brodey for advice on negotiating the best salary.

“She gave a lot of us the courage to ask for a little bit more,” Cohn said. “She would always challenge us to stretch what we thought we could do.”

Lisa Bien, JOUR ’91, who runs her own marketing firm and is an adjunct professor of strategic communication, said Brodey inspired her to step up her game and improve her B-level grades.

Because of the demands she made of her students, Bien believes the public relations profession reaped the benefits.

“She kept our field at a higher lever. You knew when you walked into her class that she had higher expectations for us,” she said.

Bien’s first five jobs were the result of a lead from Brodey. And when she landed in a position in which she wasn’t happy, she called Brodey for advice.

“It’s because you didn’t call me and ask my advice,” Bien’s mentor said, showcasing her wry sense of humor.

Respected by the faculty
Her peers voiced respect for her as much as her students.

Ed Trayes, a professor of journalism since 1967, got to know Brodey well since their third-floor offices were close to one another.

“I last saw her when my wife and I picked her up at her home and drove her to a 25-Year Club dinner for faculty in Mitten Hall,” Trayes said. “The ride down from her home went very quickly since the conversation was lively, the humor flowing and the memories many.”

Dr. Jean Brodey

Dr. Jean Brodey

Another colleague, longtime adjunct professor Lew Klein, knew Brodey since they were schoolchildren.

“When I consider the members of the faculty from the early days when the school was just emerging, Jean was one of the best,” Klein said.

Trayes said her passion for teaching was obvious in the relationships she built with her students. He will forever remember her as the women with a big heart who loved to sing. “Jean was a terrific colleague,” Trayes said. “Her Temple retirement party was memorable. Quite the blowout.”

Prior to teaching at Temple, Brodey practiced public relations at Hall Mercer Community Mental Health Center and at Temple. She was also a correspondent at Montgomery Newspapers and a freelance poet who published two books of her poems, “My Way to Anywhere” and “Mid-Life Careers.”

Menendez said Brodey’s “knowledge of the [public relations] field and sharp strategic eye was present until the end and her wisdom and counsel was unmatched. She was my professor, my mentor and my friend and I am honored to have known her.”

Survivors include a daughter, Lisette; a son, Kenneth; and a granddaughter, Dara.

A Facebook page has been set up with information about a memorial reception on May 22: facebook.com/DrJeanBrodey.

By Jeff Cronin
SMC Communications
jcronin@temple.edu