How one St. John’s University professor changed my life: A journalist’s tribute

Editor’s note: This story is part of an Advance/SILive.com Women’s History Month series celebrating the strength and influence of women who have dedicated their life to education, mentorship and leadership.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — I vividly remember the day I met Dr. Deborah Greh.

It was the late 1980s, and the former Grymes Hill campus of St. John’s University was packed as usual. The parking lot, hallways and classrooms buzzed with Gen Xers, many first-generation college students seeking a brighter future.

Knowing I wanted to be a journalist since the age of 10, I was enrolled as a communications arts major, due to the school’s lack of a journalism major at the time.

Back then, I was a shy 18-year-old who sat in the back of class. I always knew the answer, but never raised my hand. That’s because I’d have intense anxiety anytime I was called upon to speak in class.

In my sophomore year, I was told my college advisor had retired. My Type A personality made me anxious about getting the classes I wanted, so I immediately set up an appointment to meet this new advisor. That was Dr. Greh.

Women's History Month — Pictured is Tracey Porpora with Dr. Deborah Greh at another annual Comm Connection at St. John's University.(Courtesy of Tracey Porpora)

Little did I know, sitting in her office located atop a long staircase in an old building, that she would become a driving force in my life, shaping the professional I am today.

In that conversation, she told me to do several internships, and maybe not in journalism, to make sure that’s what I really wanted to do. Besides bragging rights -- like riding in an elevator with Aerosmith and lighting Down Town Julie Brown’s cigarettes on Club MTV -- my television internship only strengthened my desire to be a journalist. Ditto for the stints I did at a Broadway public relations firm and in marketing.

After sharing I still possessed a burning desire to be a print journalist, Dr. Greh encouraged me to hold out for my dream job. This came at a time when others, like those in the college career center, said it would be impossible to get a job in journalism. I remember one career counselor said, “You should look for a job in a bank.”

But I stuck to my guns and listened to my mentor.

Deborah Greh — She was known to many simply as “Dr. Greh.” That’s what the thousands of St. John’s University students called Deborah Ellen Greh.(Courtesy of Michael Pelczar)

My inspiration

While she inspired many during her 31 years teaching and serving as director of mass communications at St. John’s Staten Island campus, Dr. Greh especially inspired me.

While I had a stint at a magazine before being hired at the Staten Island Advance, my persistence to obtain a job as a newspaper reporter was all because of Dr. Greh.

I couldn’t help but posthumously honor my longtime mentor, who died of acute myeloid leukemia at age 71 in February 2020 — especially during Women’s History Month. And she is the perfect role model for year’s national theme -- “Moving Forward Together! Women Educating & Inspiring Generations,” celebrating the strength and influence of women who have dedicated their life to education, mentorship and leadership.

How her advice led to another passion

But Dr. Greh’s influence didn’t stop when I graduated, or after I obtained my dream job as a newspaper reporter at the Staten Island Advance.

At Dr. Greh’s urging, I applied to graduate school in the late 1990s.

I was accepted into a media studies program at Hunter College in Manhattan. As soon as I enrolled, Dr. Greh told me to come back to my undergraduate alma mater to teach a journalism class. But teaching wasn’t something I thought I’d ever want to do; that would mean all eyes would be on me public speaking in front of a class.

But one class turned into two, and before I knew it I had a roster of classes — from magazine and print journalism, to online journalism and public relations courses — under my belt. In all, I taught at St. John’s University over a 25-year period that lasted until the campus closed in May 2024. I never dreamed of teaching or being a professor, and never would have if it wasn’t for Dr. Greh.

More than a mentor

Dr. Greh was more than just my college advisor and my “boss” as an adjunct professor — she also became my friend. We would often meet for dinner and talk about the “kids,” who were the generations of college students she mentored over her 31 year tenure at St. John’s. She also had asked me to be a keynote speaker at one of her many annual “Comm Connection” events, which brought together students and alumni ranging from Baby Boomers to Gen Zers in the same room to network.

And I never stopped “bugging” her, as I liked to put it. I was always asking her advice on career moves. Her advice led to me teaching at the College of Staten Island in Willowbrook, and Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey.

And even after her sudden passing and the closure of the Staten Island campus of St. John’s, my love for both journalism and higher academia continues. Since St. John’s shuttered, I’ve been teaching public speaking classes (Yep -- public speaking) at Kean University in Union, N.J.

But I’m not the only one this amazing educator inspired and mentored.

Dr. Greh often provided guidance to students throughout their careers. Some, she brought on to teach as adjunct professors at the college. But for all, she was there to discuss any new direction in their career path when called upon.

Dr. Deborah Greh taught and served as director of mass communications at St. John’s University, Grymes Hill for 31 years. (Courtesy of Michael Pelczar)

And the diverse array of communication arts students she helped over the years includes several Grammy winners, as well as award-winning journalists, television producers, music makers, filmmakers, authors, marketing professionals, video gamers and more.

I will always be grateful to Dr. Greh for all she did for me.

Stories by Tracey Porpora

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