Major: 

Ph.D. Communication

Year Graduated: 

1996

Hometown: 

St. Lous, MO

Current City: 

Starkville, MS 

Current Employer: 

Head, Department of Communication at Mississippi State University 

Top played song on your playlist?: 

Anything by Led Zeppelin 

Where has your CI degree taken you?: 

Since completing my doctoral studies, I have become a tenured full professor at Western Kentucky University, then Chair and tenured full professor at Tennessee State-Nashville to my current position MSU (and happy to be in the SEC!). I have continued to freelance for various media outlets, winning a variety of awards including from the Associated Press in Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi as well as the Radio/TV Digital News Association’s Edward R. Murrow awards and honors from the Broadcast Education Association.

What is your favorite thing about your job?: 

Finding resources for our talented students and faculty to succeed. I enjoy engaging students and faculty in how to be effective storytellers, seeking excellence in all we do. This has led to us winning in state, regional and national competitions helping to raise the profile of our program.

What¹s the most valuable thing you learned in CI?: 

Researching different phenomena in the media and then taking a concept, with faculty guidance, and turning it into a completed dissertation.

What advice would you give to current CI students?: 

Challenge yourself every day as if you have something to prove, not only to your employer but to yourself.  Find a mentor and keep learning. “You” have to make your own opportunities, they won’t be handed to you. Keep pushing toward your goals.