Brenda Wrigley was born and raised in Sidney. She graduated from the University of Missouri in 1975 with a Bachelor of Science in Broadcast Journalism. While serving as the Marketing Communications Manager for the Raymond Corporation in Greene, NY, she completed a master's from Syracuse University and after leaving Raymond, earned a Ph.D. from the nationally renowned Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University in Mass Communications.

Brenda began her career working as a radio news announcer for WENE/WMRV in Endicott. She soon moved to the advertising side and started selling air time, ultimately becoming the top salesperson each year. She worked in radio and television ad sales for 14 years.

After obtaining her Ph.D. at Syracuse University, Brenda became an associate professor at Michigan State University. In 2004, Brenda returned to Syracuse University and currently teaches Public Relations in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.

In support of Dr. Wrigley's nomination for induction, David Rubin, Dean of the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications wrote,
"Professor Wrigley is a key member of our nationally-recognized Department of Public Relations in the Newhouse School. Not only is she one of our outstanding teachers, she is also a nationally recognized scholar in public relations research.

"She is particularly well known for her pioneering work on gender in public relations, particularly the glass ceiling that prevents women from occupying the top positions in the field. I am familiar with the range and quality of public relations faculty members across the country. It is a relatively small field. I can say with confidence that Professor Wrigley has a strong national reputation and that she is among the top twenty educators in her field."

Professor Wrigley co-authored the book: The Gender Challenge to Media: Diverse Voices from the Field as well as many research papers at both national and international seminars. In 2006 she received the Meredith Teaching Recognition Award at Syracuse University.