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- Centers & Institutes Overview
- Center for Addiction and Mental Health Research
- Center for Criminal Justice and Social Research
- Center for Public Health Modeling and Response
- Center for Research on Health Disparities
- Clemson Rural Health
- Clinical Learning Research Center
- Human Factors Institute
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Faculty and Staff Profile
Rikishi T. Smith-ReyAssistant ProfessorFormer Division I Student-Athlete Office: Strode Tower 404 Phone: Email: rrey@clemson.edu Vita: View | |
Educational BackgroundPh.D. Communication M.A. Communication B.A. Communication | Courses TaughtAdvanced Sport Communication
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Profile
I am an assistant professor of Communication in the Department of Communication and a faculty fellow at the Robert H. Brooks Sport Science Institute at Clemson University. I recently submitted as grant as a Principal Investigator, a $2.63 million grant proposal to the National Institute of Health (NIH) to build and evaluate a Student-Athlete Wellness Portal that educates and reduces substance misuse, abuse, and disorders in high school student-athletes and submitted a $3.3 million grant proposal to the Department of Transportation on behalf of the City of Clinton, SC, and SOS eCharging. I was responsible for developing, writing, and submitting the grant. This winter, I will be launching the company I founded, Sport PhD. Our main focus will be to provide accessible and simplified sport research to athletes, stakeholders, and sport organizations, to ensure that cutting-edge knowledge is readily available for application in athletic careers. Originally from Southern California, I attended CSU, Fullerton as a first-generation student with a scholarship to play Division I soccer. After my athletic career ended, I became a professional wedding photographer shooting 60+ events a year around the world. After retiring from wedding photography, my creativity and passion for message design led me to complete my M.A. (CSUF, 2019) and Ph.D. (Chapman University, 2022) in Communication. I am fully trained in mixed-methods research, campaign and intervention design and efficacy, social media marketing and data analytics (B2B, B2C, Sprinklr, HubSpot, Hootsuite, Google Analytics, Adobe Creative Suite, Content Creation), and grant writing (Federal & Foundation). My professional experience includes 5 years as a professional wedding photographer shooting 60+ events a year, 9 as a social media director, and 8 as a club soccer coach. If I am not teaching or researching, I am either training for another half marathon, watching Arsenal FC or the Netherlands national soccer team, cooking or making something and anything from sourdough starter. I believe that anything can be fixed with a strong cup of black coffee or a good cup of bourbon. In my free time I am usually traveling, reading, or playing with my three dogs, Finley, Harper, and Aly. Advisees Clemson University Shea Hammond (Expected Spring '26) - Thesis Marissa Bennett (Expected Spring '25) - Project Jalen Terrell (Expected Spring '25) - Thesis Brannon Timms (Expected Fall '25) - Thesis Nicole Pfaff (May '24) - Comprehensive exams Chapman University Jeffrey McDaniel ('22) - Northwestern University - Master of Arts in Sports Administration program Cristina Molina ('22) - 2022 Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship - "Assessing Latinx Young Adults with ADHD: Late Diagnosis and its Affects." Committee Member Clemson University Lexi Merriman (Expected '25) - Thesis Hannah Gertz (May '24) - Thesis University of Delaware Claire Wanzer (Expected '26) | |
Research InterestsStrategic Communication
Research PublicationsRey, R. T., Miller-Day, M., Craw, E. S., Buckley, T. M., Wozniak, T. R., Hopfer, S. (2024). Engagement with and persuasiveness of HPV vaccination promotion videos: An examination of narrative engagement theory. Atlantic Journal of Communication. https://doi.org/10.1080/15456870.2023.2298858
Honors and AwardsRobert H. Brooks Sports Science GRIT Award for Student Engagement in the Sports Sciences (2024)
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