Contact Us
Michael Linnell
Director of University Communications
Phone: 701-858-3065
Email: michael.linnell@minotstateu.edu
Student Center Suite 304 - C
Michael Linnell is in his seventh academic year as Minot State University’s Director of University Communications and is in his 15th year with MSU.
As director, Linnell oversees the university’s internal and external communications and serves as the managing editor of the Alumni Association magazine Connections. He currently serves on MSU’s Strategic Planning & Budget Committee and the University’s Strategic Enrollment Planning Committee.
Linnell was elected in 2022 as the North Dakota State Staff Senate Staff Advisor for the North Dakota State Board of Higher Education and completed his third term with the Board in June 2025.
He has been a member of MSU Staff Senate since 2015, serving as a senator from 2015-2017 and again currently in 2020-21. He has been elected Staff Senate’s president twice (2017-18 and 2019-20) and vice president (2018-19). He was elected as North Dakota State Staff Senate’s vice president in 2019-20 and served as president in 2020-21.
Prior to moving to University Communications, Linnell spent seven years with Minot State University Athletics as sports information director and assistant athletic director for communication & media relations. Linnell was hired by Minot State on Jan. 5, 2010, marking the university's first full-time sports information director, and was promoted to assistant athletic director in October 2015. Linnell was responsible for public relations and media operations for MSU Athletics and was the webmaster for msubeavers.com.
Linnell spent five and a half years with the Minot Daily News as a photographer, sportswriter, and, for the final four years with the newspaper, the sports editor. Linnell was the sports editor for two years at the Valley City Times-Record and worked four years at the Grand Forks Herald. A veteran of multiple state and regional tournaments, Linnell's newspaper highlight was covering The Masters at Augusta National Golf Course in Augusta, Georgia, three times.
A native of Sunburst, Montana, Linnell graduated from the University of North Dakota in 2002 with a bachelor’s degree in communication and holds a leadership certificate from the Minot State University Looyenga Leadership Center.
Linnell is an active member of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), including serving as a district coordinator for CASE District VI Institutional Awards. During his time in athletics, Linnell was a member of College Sports Information Directors of America, serving at the national level as a district coordinator for the Fred Stabley Sr. Writing Contest. He also served as the region coordinator for D2 Conference Commissioner’s All-America Committee and was regional coordinator for the D2SIDA Women’s Basketball Poll. He was a long-time member of the North Dakota Associated Press Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association and was elected as the organization's president in 2009. Linnell has won a North Dakota Newspaper Association top award in both photography and column writing.
An active member of Kiwanis for the past five years in Minot, Linnell served as vice president and president of Kiwanis of Minot and is a member of the Board of Directors.
Linnell and his wife, Nichole, live in Minot and have one son, Cooper.
