College welcomes three new faculty members
Sora Kim (Photo by Steve Johnson)
Sora Kim
While working in corporate public relations and marketing for several years in Seoul, South Korea, Assistant Public Relations Professor Sora Kim became particularly interested in the influences of corporate communications strategy on consumer responses, as she said, “why do people react to certain things in certain situations.”
That research interest, particularly the effects a company’s corporate social responsibility program has on consumer responses, made her decide to return to the United States and pursue a doctorate degree in public relations and advertising at the University of Tennessee.
“It was my own professional experience that led me to enter the higher education field,” Kim said. “I wanted to make connections between the professional and academic fields.” Read more »
Lu Zheng (Photo by Steve Johnson)
Lu Zheng
As Assistant Professor of Advertising Lu Zheng was finishing her doctorate degree at the University of Alabama last summer, she had a decision to make about where to begin her higher education career. A call from the College’s Associate Professor Lisa Duke Cornell, who had served on the search committee for the position, sealed Zheng’s decision to join UF’s Department of Advertising’s faculty and she started in August.
“Dr. Lisa Duke called me and invited me for a campus visit,” said Zheng. “I truly enjoyed my interview and visit. I met all the professors and discovered not only a faculty of very intelligent people, but also people who are very friendly and warm.”
Zheng has spent the past nine months teaching media planning to the College’s advertising students and continuing her research on narrative advertising and persuasion model building. Read more »
Amy Zerba (Photo by Steve Johnson)
Amy Zerba
Assistant Journalism Professor Amy Zerba, JM 1996 & MAMC 2003, always had her eye on coming back to the University of Florida. Last fall, after earning her doctorate degree in journalism at the University of Texas at Austin in December of 2009 and working a stint at CNN.com in Atlanta, she returned to the College to teach in the Journalism Department and continue her research on the news habits of young adults.
“I always wanted to come back here,” said Zerba. “UF was always on my radar.”
Zerba specializes in teaching multimedia storytelling skills and devices in applied and visual journalism courses and is researching young adults’ motives behind media use, news avoidances and expectations of hard news.
“For the past 10 years I’ve been studying young adults and their news habits and non-news habits,” Zerba said. “The Millennials – those born between 1982 and 2002 – are searchers of news. If they hear something, they go find it, but they’re not regular readers of news. Read more »
Spring 2011
Alumni achievement
- The Fab Four: Gator grads launch new all-sports format on WRUF-AM
- Gator grads head The Miami Herald newsroom
- John Spence: one of nation’s top 100 thought leaders
- Mike Neumeier: The Power of PR
- Melissa Lyttle named to association board
- Three College graduates honored at the Florida Heritage Awards
Features
- 21st Century News Laboratory opens
- College plans digital communication laboratory
- Finding love at the CJC
Coming & going
- Christiano named to Karel Endowed Chair
- Wanta is new Journalism chair
- College welcomes three new faculty members
- New staff
- Harry Guscott retires after 39 years
Faculty achievement
Student achievement
- Advertising students receive national recognition
- Public Relations team wins international competition
Station news
- College restructures media properties
- College and UAA enter into partnership
- College broadcasts local high school game
In memoriam
- Jerry Davis
- Marion B. Brechner
- Mickie Newbill Edwardson
The Campaign for the University of Florida