Faculty
Brandy Lyn Brown, PhD, Director: Dr. Brandy Lyn Brown is the director of the Leadership Communication Skills Center (LCSC) at Marine Corps University, where she designs and leads communication development programs for the MCU community. Her work sits at the intersection of leadership development and communication, grounded in the belief that clear, purposeful communication is a core competency, not a soft skill. Her programs span MCU's degree-granting schools, reaching leaders throughout their careers.
Dr. Brown holds a PhD in Rhetoric and Composition and MA in English Composition from the University of North Carolina Greensboro. She joined MCU in 2020.
Katie Zimmerle, PhD, Communications Instructor: Katie Zimmerle, PhD, Communications Instructor: Dr. Zimmerle joined the LCSC in the summer of 2022. An experienced and published writer, Dr. Zimmerle has taught English at the secondary level both overseas and within the United States. Dr. Zimmerle's professional interests are writing instruction, adult learning, and literary studies. Dr. Zimmerle holds a PhD in Higher
Education, Leadership, and Policy, with a research focus on writing skill development in graduate-level PME and an MA in Education from Arizona State University; doctoral-level certificates in both Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment and Higher Education and Adult Learning from Walden University; and a BA in Social Science and English from Ashford University.
Meg Varney, MA, Communications Assistant Professor: Ms. Varney transferred to the LCSC in 2026 after five years at Air University, where she directed the Communication Lab and taught communication skills in the International Officer School. Before entering civil service, Ms. Varney taught writing, rhetoric, and English as a Foreign Language at Colgate University in New York and Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University in Japan. She holds an MA in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages and a BA in Writing. Ms. Varney is also a veteran of the Indiana Army National Guard, where she served six years as a Healthcare Specialist and deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.