Joseph Russo

Joe Russo is a lecturer in education at the University of Wyoming. His career began in business after earning a BBA from California State University, Northridge. He worked as a certified public accountant with an international CPA firm in Los Angeles from 1979 – 1982, then joined a venture capital firm based in New York where he conducted mergers and acquisitions for what would become Microsoft Corporation. Then, for the next 25 years, he held various senior leadership positions in accounting, finance, and operations for (among others) Microsoft or its subsidiaries (and acquired companies). In 2007, he was able to leave the corporate world and return to graduate school to explore his interest in the fields of educational psychology and mental health counseling. During this time, he taught anger management strategies within an inner-city 5th grade classroom. As a part of his doctoral research, Joe earned an MBA that focused on the mental health implications of social media marketing. At the same time, he earned a master’s degree in educational psychology and then a doctorate in the same field. Before coming to UW, Dr. Russo was in private practice in Nevada (2 years), then in South Australia for 2 years. He has taught as an adjunct lecturer at UW’s College of Education since 2017 and has maintained a private practice as life coach in that same timeframe. Dr. Russo’s scholarly interests remain focused on the depressive aspects of social media, as well as the efficacy of distance mental health counseling. To that end, he ran a pilot program focused on the latter area from 2018-2019, providing tele-counseling to a variety of Wyoming residents that accrued some 900 hours of service. Dr. Russo has taught courses at the undergraduate and master’s levels on topics such as mental health counselor ethics, foundations of human growth and development, research methods, and practicum for pre-service teachers. Within UW’s College of Business, Dr. Russo taught in the MBA Program various courses relating to leadership and international business management. Dr. Russo has provided services at the local, state, national and international levels throughout his career. As examples, he has (1) sat as a member of the Board of Directors for the Nevada Association of Marriage and Family Therapist, (2) managed various grant-funded activities in the inner-city neighborhoods of Reno, Nevada, (3) served as a trustee for the Counseling Association of Australia (CASA), and (4) directed a pilot program (as mentioned above) for the delivery of distance counseling services in the State of Wyoming. Transitioning from being an adjunct lecturer in the College, Dr. Russo was hired as a full-time lecturer for the Fall of 2024.