Interim Dean Jacobson has held administrative positions as Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies and as Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the School of Communications and Theater. His academic appointment is as Professor of Communication in the School’s Department of Broadcasting, Telecommunications, and Mass Media. His principal research areas address globalization, development, and political communication.

Jacobson holds a Ph.D. from the University of Washington in Communication Theory as well as an M.A. from the University of Washington in International Communication. He completed his undergraduate studies in Philosophy and Social Theory at Western Washington University.

He has served as Chair of SUNY-Buffalo’s Department of Communication and Interim Dean of its School of Informatics. He has been Visiting Professor at Northwestern University and at Cornell University summer programs. Jacobson is also a past President of the Participatory Communication Research Section of the International Association of Media and Communication Research and currently serves as Chair of the Association’s Scholarly Review Committee.