Shari R. Veil, MBA, Ph.D., is a professor and the Jane T. Olson Endowed Dean of the College of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She oversees the strategic, programmatic, financial, fundraising, and management operations that support the mission and vision of the college and its role within the university and state.

Veil also serves as a research fellow with the National Strategic Research Institute, a Department of Defense-designated University Affiliated Research Center focused on developing solutions for complex problems across the spectrum of chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive threats.

Veil came to Nebraska from the University of Kentucky, where she was associate dean for undergraduate affairs in the College of Communication and Information, chair and professor in the Department of Communication, and director of the Risk Sciences Division. Prior to Kentucky, she taught strategic communication in the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication and served as the director of the Center for Risk and Crisis Management at the University of Oklahoma coordinating research, funding, graduate education, and training programs specific to risk and crisis communication.

Her research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, Department of Agriculture, Environmental Protection Agency, and the Department of Homeland Security's National Center for Food Protection and Defense and National Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events. She's served on expert working groups for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration. Before entering academia, Veil spent eight years in the profession in business, marketing, and public relations.

Veil earned a Bachelor of Science in communication and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Mary in North Dakota. Her doctorate in communication, with a research focus on risk and crisis communication, is from North Dakota State University.