Kimberly Bissell finished up her first semester as the dean of LSU’s Manship School of Mass Communication with a recent visit to Paris. There, she helped plan the college’s 2024 Summer Olympics study abroad trip. It is one of multiple new immersive experiences Bissell is helping to launch for students, especially those interested in sports communication.
Bissell began her career as a journalist and photographer, but taking a community college position introduced her to the possibility of teaching full time.
“I realized as much as I loved storytelling from my own perspective, having the chance to help others create their own stories was really something that I loved,” she says.
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Before starting at LSU last July, Bissell served as the associate dean of research for The University of Alabama’s communications college. She developed an award-winning health and fitness app for children. And as a running and cycling instructor, wellness goes beyond her research, as well. She’s run 29 marathons, which she says has helped shape her success.
“It’s this way to kind of remind myself that I’m capable of a lot more than I sometimes let myself believe,” she says.
225 sat down with Bissell to discuss the future of the Manship School under her leadership. Answers have been edited for clarity and brevity.
What originally drew you to Manship?
I knew its reputation. I knew people at Alabama who got master’s degrees here. When I interviewed, everyone was just so nice and wonderful. I just couldn’t believe how supportive they were of students and how truly they would do anything for the students to succeed.
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Has anything surprised you about Manship or LSU since you started?
I came from an SEC school. My daughter’s at Florida, so I’ve been around the SEC. (The sports culture) is legit here, but I love that because I love sports. I think the other thing that was really surprising, in a good way, was just how committed the alums are to wanting to give back and talk to students, connect with students and help students.
You’ve expressed interest in growing Manship’s sports communication program. Why is that a priority to you? And what’s your vision?
A lot of places will have sports journalism or sports broadcasting (programs) where they’re teaching students to go out and be on the sidelines. I’m hoping we can be more interdisciplinary across mentorship. When you think about image repair, branding, press releases and all of the things (sports) agents, athletes and teams have to do, that’s critical. If you think advertising and ad revenue, you think about the Super Bowl. My vision is for what we do to be very interdisciplinary across our units, so that students really understand the business side.
What’s your hope for the future of Manship? What’s next?
I definitely want to see what we’re doing in sports communication grow. Also, in the next year or two, we are going to be integrating faculty research, teaching and student engagement with experiential learning. I have an idea for something I’m calling the Louisiana Storytellers Project. We’re the best at storytelling. I’m hoping to work with computer science and engineering (departments at LSU) to develop an app where we can capture Louisiana residents’ stories: food, music, culture—whatever it is.