Education Born in
Brooklyn in 1934 to musician
Sholom Secunda and Betty Secunda, Eugene Secunda was raised on
New York's
Lower East Side and in northern
Manhattan. He earned his
bachelor's degree in
journalism at New York University in 1956, his
master's degree in Communications at
Boston University in 1962 and his
Ph.D. in Media Studies at New York University in 1988. He served two tours of active duty in the
U.S. Army. During that time, he was trained in propaganda at the
U.S. Army Information School.
Career Secunda began his career as a newspaper and radio reporter in the U.S., the Middle East and Europe, then was a police reporter for the New London Day newspaper,
New London, Ct. He later became a marketing executive promoting many
Broadway theater productions, as well as for films at
20th Century Fox and
Universal Film Studios. Secunda was with the
J. Walter Thompson Company for 16 years, supervising a variety of advertising and public relations accounts in the U.S. and global markets, and as J. Walter Thompson's Senior Vice President, Director of World-wide Corporate Communications. He also founded the agency's Entertainment Advertising Division. In 1980, he joined
N. W. Ayer & Son International advertising agency in 1980 as Senior Vice President and Division Manager. He left in 1982 and co-founded his own agency, Barnum-Secunda Associates, where he served as President, and in 1985, established a consultancy, Secunda Marketing Communications, serving clients in the marketing and media industries. In the 1990s, Secunda was Director of Corporate Communications of
Central European Media Enterprises, a London-based media company. Secunda works as a Professor of Media Studies at New York University and continues his work in communications-related authorship and participation of community affairs.
Personal life He has lived in
Greenwich Village,
New York City with his wife Shirley for more than five decades and has two children, Ruthanne and Andrew. == Awards and affiliations ==