Congratulations to Paul Villagran, APR, of the Austin PRSA Chapter for earning his Accreditation in Public Relations (APR) in June 2025. Villagran is Assistant Professor of Practice at Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas, and serves as the faculty advisor for the University’s PRSSA chapter and the National Society of Collegiate Scholars.

Villagran is an award-winning public relations practitioner who has taught for more than a decade in the public relations program at Texas State. He’s also served in public affairs for the United States Air Force in a variety of roles. He shares more of his accreditation experience in a blog post on the PRSA Austin website. 

“My greatest thrill on campus is engaging with students to help give them the tools to navigate their way through their Texas State experience, both inside and outside of the classroom,” said Villagran. “It is tremendously rewarding to see these amazing students do the incredible things they do every day.”

He’s also using his strategic communications experience to develop campus programs that help minimize the impact of substance abuse and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases in both the LGBTQIA community and student military veterans through a Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration grant.

Villagran earned his Bachelor of Applied Science degree in public relations from the University of Oregon and his Master of Arts degree in communications from the University of Oklahoma.

The Austin chapter will congratulate Villagran at our upcoming PRSA event on July 23, 2025: Savoring the Story, A Panel on Food Media & Hospitality. Register for the event from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Love, Tito’s, 215 Lavaca Street, Austin. 

The APR credential helps to improve your personal brand and distinguishes a practitioner by demonstrating mastery of the strategic communications practice. For access to resources and testimonies from APR members, go to the APR PRSA candidate page. For questions about the APR program, contact Grace Capwell, APR Chair for the Austin PRSA chapter 2025: Grace.Capwell@Emerson.com

The Accreditation program aims to improve the practice of public relations by assessing competence in 60 areas of professional knowledge, skills and abilities. Candidates who complete the rigorous process, including presenting his/her portfolio to a panel of three peers and sitting for an examination, are granted the APR.