Brett Mauser

Director of Communications, School of Dental Medicine
Start Date: August 24, 2022

As a native New Hampshirite with a lifelong passion for sports and a love for the Boston Red Sox, Brett Mauser never dreamt he’d relocate to New York or work in higher education. His only experience with dentistry was as a patient before he joined the staff at Stony Brook’s School of Dental Medicine.

“I recently unearthed a horrible, horrible picture of me when I was young, and my teeth could not have been worse,” he says. “Dentistry certainly changed my own life, but back then I never thought much about what a smile represents for people, what it gives people – it represents happiness, it demonstrates warmth and confidence, and it’s the first thing a lot of people see. It makes me really appreciate what our students are learning about and doing.”

Responsible for showcasing the work of students, residents, faculty and staff at the school, as well as ensuring connectedness through internal communications, Brett describes his role as “a potpourri.” Every day brings something new, which keeps the job exciting, he says.

Behind his neatly organized desk is a long cabinet shelf lined with various mementos from Brett’s past – a series of custom-made, Hollywood-themed Christmas cards like “The Mauser Bunch” and “Mausurassic Park” starring him, his wife Allison, and their three kids, Zachary, Haley and Liam; five shiny medals from different marathons he’s run over the years; and a magazine he produced for the 2006 Rose Bowl, a game widely considered to be the greatest in history, he says, adding that the magazine is now a collector’s item.

Brett spent a decade living out his dreams as a sports writer. After graduating from UMass Amherst in 2000, he got a job covering professional, college and high school sports at a daily newspaper near Boston. He and Allison moved to New York in 2003, and Brett became editor for the Rose Bowl and Super Bowl programs as well as Mets Magazine and Broadway Blue, the gameday programs for the Mets and Rangers. He loved his work and his colleagues, but as he got older and grew his family, Brett’s interests began to take a different shape.

In 2011, he started a new journey as University Support Services’ (USS) senior writer/editor at St. George's University and fell in love with working in higher education. He was promoted to managing editor in 2017 and held the position until January of 2022, when his supervisor, Caroline McCann, accepted a role here at Stony Brook. Brett took her place as director of marketing and communications at USS, but it wasn’t long before he joined her as a fellow Seawolf.

“I love that I’m able to utilize all the skills I’ve acquired over my 20-year career,” he says. “Based on what I read in the job description, I felt like I would be a great fit, and I’ve definitely found that to be the case. And Dean [Patrick] Lloyd has been fantastic – he’s a great supporter, and he really has the school pointed in the right direction, building the culture and creating new opportunities.”

Brett is glad to be a part of it, which also applies to his attitude toward SBU as a whole. He’s lived in Stony Brook since December of 2007, and he’s always appreciated the value the university has in the community. “Just down the street, there are people who are doing this incredible work, whether they’re physicians or dentists or researchers,” he says. “I think Stony Brook acts as a beacon for this community and for Long Island.”

Forever grateful for his own experience as a college student, Brett feels fulfilled supporting Stony Brook’s School of Dental Medicine and the world-class education it provides. Oftentimes, more than 1,000 college students vie for fewer than 50 spots in the dental program. “Any time I’m in the mix with our students, I just feel good about it,” he says. “They're extremely bright, extremely driven, but also could not be more courteous.”

The school’s 50th anniversary will take place in September, and Brett is helping to organize a weekend-long celebration for all alumni since the inaugural class. He’s also working on reviving the school’s magazine after a 10-year hiatus. 

“We’re excited to re-engage with our alumni and reconnect as a holistic community,” he says. “The magazine will cover what alumni are doing in the field of dentistry, events taking place at the school, and stories about students, residents, faculty and staff. In essence, it will highlight everything that’s going on and reconnect alumni with their alma mater.”

With so many things to look forward to, Brett still finds a way to nurture his undying passion for sports, from coaching his kids to supporting SBU’s various athletic programs. On Father’s Day in 2017, he co-founded an ultimate frisbee league with his buddies, and it has since grown to 30 members. The “Frisbeasts” continue to play twice a week to this day. Even though he’s still a devout Red Sox fan, Brett’s more than happy to call New York – especially Stony Brook – his home.