The first thing Matthew Cecil did as the Director of the Elliott School of Communication was take group photos of the Flint Hills Media Project team.

“That was the most important thing, obviously,” Cecil said.

He started his duties at WSU Monday.

Cecil comes to WSU from South Dakota State University, where he was assistant department head of journalism and mass communications.

Before his tenure at SDSU, Cecil was a professor of journalism at Purdue University and the University of Oklahoma.

He has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in history, and earned his Ph.D. in mass communication from the University of Iowa.

In addition to his teaching jobs, Cecil served as a media professional in various publications.

Cecil previously worked as a press secretary for a candidate for governor in South Dakota. He also worked in media relations for a company called Daktronics, a video board company.

Cecil is in the process of publishing a book titled “J. Edgar Hoover and the American Press: Journalism, Public Relations and the Legitimation of the FBI,” a story about Hoover’s relationship with the media during his 48-year as FBI director.

Cecil’s wife, Jennifer Tiernan, is also joining the Elliott School as a tenured-trek faculty. Tiernan will teach gender and communication and an honors introduction class this fall, while Cecil will teach former interim director Lou Heldman’s social media class.

Cecil said the Elliott School is well positioned, and has an outstanding faculty.

“They’re interested in making some changes,” he said. Cecil took his first full tour of the building a few weeks ago.

For Cecil, the best part of the Elliott School faculty is the blend of professors with an academic background and professors with a professional background in their respective fields.

“That’s really the ideal situation to be in,” Cecil said. “You also have people that get along and understand the value of one another.”

Graduate student Courtney Looney, who was part of the hiring committee that selected Cecil as director, said the Elliott School is unique in that respect.

She also said that the committee was looking for a candidate with academic and professional experience.

“He is an academic in nature but he seems to understand, more than anybody, the importance of combining both academic and professionalism,” Looney said.

Assistant Professor Amy DeVault has met with Cecil several times since he applied for the position last November. DeVault said she is looking forward to working with him.

“All indications are that he’s a good people person,” DeVault said. “He respects us for what we’re already doing.”

DeVault thinks Cecil faces some challenges along the way, but she expects Cecil to take the Elliott School in a new direction.

“I think everyone is just looking forward to moving forward. I think Dr. Cecil’s probably a great person to lead us in that endeavor,” she said.