Courses:
Professor Bruess currently teaches Family Communication, Interpersonal Communication and Public Speaking.

Education:
B.A., St. Norbert College
M.A., Ph.D., Ohio University

Scholarship and service:
Passionate about the study of family and couple ritual and construction of a family co-culture through language and ritual, Professor Bruess is committed to understanding – and, more importantly, helping others understand – the communication patterns of happily married couples. 
Co-author of the book Contemporary Issues in Interpersonal Communication (with Mark P. Orbe, Roxbury Publishing, 2005), her second book, What Happy Couples Do (with Anna Kudak, former St. Thomas student) will be published in January, 2008 (Fairview Press).  To find more information about the book or to share your own stories of connection rituals for inclusion in future books, please visit:  www.whathappycouplesdo.com

Professor Bruess has presented her work at dozens of national, regional, and international conferences, and has published in national and international journals and professional books. In addition, she has been quoted and interviewed in a variety of national media outlets, including PBS, The Chronicle of Higher Education, The National Enquirer, American Health, Cosmopolitan, The St Louis Post Dispatch Magazine, The San Antonio Express and even the German newspaper, Leipziger Volkszeitung.  Dr. Bruess has provided expert answers recently for several "good question" segments on WCCO-TV news.  Among them were "How do parents set curfew time?" "Why do we use nicknames?" "Why aren’t couples sharing beds?" and "Is arguing in relationships bad?"  After airing on the 10 p.m. news, several of the segments were picked up by the CBS network for broadcast on its Saturday morning "Early Show."

At UST:
Professor Bruess joined UST in 1998.