PROFILE: Dr. Hygh Brings Energy and Know-How to the PR Classroom

Dr. Larry Hygh joins CSUSB as the newest full time lecturer in Public Relations, bringing his energy and enthusiasm to a new generation of PR professionals. He will be teaching Business and Professional Comm, PR Writing, Crisis Comm, PR Campaigns and more. Dr. Hygh previously served as Senior Communications Manager for the Black AIDS Institute.  Founded in May of 1999, Black AIDS Institute is the only national HIV/AIDS think tank focused exclusively on Black people. The Institute’s mission is to 'stop the AIDS epidemic in Black communities by engaging and mobilizing Black leaders, institutions, and individuals, in efforts to confront HIV and conducts advocacy and mobilization from a uniquely and unapologetically Black point of view.' Hygh spent 20 plus years as the chief communications officer for The United Methodist Church (UMC) in five different regional offices in the United States, and the international mission agency when it was based in New York City. He has also been an adjunct instructor at Folsom Lake College in Folsom, Calif. In 2008, Hygh earned a Doctor of Education from Pepperdine University in Organizational Leadership.  His dissertation is entitled A Qualitative Leadership Study of the Four Female African-American Bishops of the United Methodist Church.  His undergraduate and masters’ degrees are from Stephen F. Austin (SFA) State University in Nacogdoches, Texas, in Radio/Television and Mass Communications.  The Alumni Association of Stephen F. Austin State University named him a “2006 Outstanding Young Alumnus.” While in New England, Hygh studied at Suffolk University in Boston, Massachusetts. He is a sought after public speaker, especially to youth and young adults, who brings a great deal of energy and enthusiasm to each speaking engagement. He has keynoted and facilitated training, spoken in local churches, and to secular entities, across the country. In his spare time, Hygh enjoys public and motivational speaking  and reading biographies and autobiographies.  Hygh has acted in community plays and on commercials for regional television. He is an exercise enthusiast and enjoys Zumba, hip-hop dance, and jogging. Hygh resides in Pasadena, California and is a member of Harmony Toluca Lake United Methodist Church.  Hygh is an exercise enthusiast and loves to travel.  He has traveled to six of the seven continents, approximately 29 countries, and 45 of the 50 states in the United States.  Some of the countries he has visited include Thailand, Sierra Leone, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Canada, Argentina, Paraguay, Germany, France, Australia, Italy, Greece, Croatia, Costa Rica, Singapore, and Turkey.