Texas Tech University

Kent Best

2015 Outstanding Alumni

Kent Best's experience spans college athletics, healthcare and higher education public relations, with a solid base in journalism. He leads an award-winning team of media relations and communications specialists at Southern Methodist University, a nationally ranked private university in Dallas. Best oversees SMU's internal and external communications, including social media. In 2012, the SMU News & Communications team was recognized by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education as creating one of the top two university media relations campaigns in the country.

Previously, Best held communications positions at Texas Health Resources, a nonprofit hospital system based in Arlington, the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, and at Texas Tech University, where he served as an assistant sports information director, student media editorial adviser, and assistant director of news and publications.

A 1987 journalism graduate of Texas Tech, Best has been honored with regional and national awards for writing, publications design, student media advising, and media relations.

He was awarded the Texas Tech Outstanding Journalism Graduate award by the student chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He earned a master's degree in mass communications from Texas Tech in 1994.

Earlier in his career, Best was a frequent contributor as a sports writer for ESPN SportsTicker, MSNBC, the Dallas Morning News, and the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. He also was color commentator for Lady Raider basketball radio broadcasts for most of the 1990s. He previously served as an adjunct faculty member in media and communication at Texas Tech.

He is married to Gina Augustini Best, a writer, who earned a master's degree in mass communications from Texas Tech in 2002.

The couple has a daughter named Annelise. In Best's spare time, he enjoys spending time with his family, coaching youth softball, attending sporting events, reading presidential biographies, and playing the piano.

Kent Best

Kent Best