Class of 1976
Repass, a native of Charleston, graduated in 1976 from Marshall where he was part of the Young Thundering Herd football team. In 1977 he received a master of science degree in communications from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, with a special emphasis in public opinion and advertising research.
He was president of Ryan-Repass Research, Inc., the first full-service marketing and opinion research firm in West Virginia, and, in 1980, he started the West Virginia Poll, the first media sponsored scientific measure of public opinion in the state. In 1988 Repass moved to Cincinnati, Ohio where he became president of MarketVision Research. He sold his interest in MarketVIsion and formed R. L. Repass & Partners, Inc. in 2001. In 2016 Research America acquired R. L. Repass & Partners, and Repass serves as president He continues to provide research and strategic planning to more than 40 newspapers and media companies.
Repass serves on the University of Tennessee’s College of Communications & Information Board of Visitors.
