Highlight on Faculty

Program Chair

Robert Kargon, PhD, is the Willis K. Shepard Professor of The History of Science at Johns Hopkins, and Chair of the Master of Arts in Communication Program. Trained in physics at Duke and Yale, and in history at Cornell, Dr. Kargon is especially interested in the complex role of science in modern societies, in the evolution of method in physical science, in scientific institutions as mediators between society and discipline, and in applying digital technologies to learning.

His books include The Rise of Robert Millikan: Portrait of a Life in American Science (1982); Science in Victorian Manchester: Enterprise and Expertise (1977); Atomism in England from Hariot to Newton (1966); Kelvin's Baltimore Lectures and Modern Theoretical Physics (ed. with Peter Achinstein, 1987); and The Maturing of American Science (ed., 1974).

Dr. Kargon is helping to develop new ways of involving the public in scientific and technical questions. Toward that end, he currently consults to the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History. Additionally, he has taught seminars for public administrators, sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities. He also organized a NATO workshop on science and development, lectured on historical perspectives on policy issues, served on the Scientific Council of the Maryland Science Center, and was a Director of the Baltimore Public Works Museum, where a special concern is outreach to the public.

Associate Program Chairs

Erika Falk, PhD, runs the Master’s Degree in Communication at Johns Hopkins University. She earned her doctorate in Communication from the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. She holds a Master's degree in Speech Communication from San Diego State University and a Bachelor's degree in Politics from the University of California at Santa Cruz.

Prior to coming to Johns Hopkins, Falk served as Research Director of the Washington office of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. While there she supervised several research grants and wrote reports on diverse communication issues, ranging from issue advertising to women in executive management of communication companies to communication strategies for early-childhood-development advocates. She also worked on the data analysis team of the National Annenberg Election Survey. Her reports have been widely cited by the national press and on the floors of Congress.

She has published several articles on women and the American presidency. She is also the author of Women for President: Media Bias in Eight Campaigns, a book about how the media cover women candidates. Falk has also published on the history of rhetoric, the effects of sexist language, and civility in the House of Representatives.

Falk began her career as a public radio reporter and anchor. Additionally, she has taught university courses in political communication, public speaking, business communication, and overcoming communication apprehension. Besides serving as the Associate Program Chair, she currently teaches Thesis, Media Theory, Persuasion Theory and Research, and Research and Writing Methods.

Faculty Members

Morra Aarons, MA, specializes in online political campaigns and blogging, and in particular, on mobilizing women online for political campaigns and activist projects. She is a blogger and political consultant. She covers politics for BlogHer.com, the largest site for women bloggers, with over 9.5 million unique visitors a month; she also serves as BlogHer’s Political Director. Morra is also a columnist for TechPresident.com and she appears regularly on CNN. Before starting her own consultancy, Morra was Vice President of Interactive at Edelman in Washington, DC, where she founded that firm’s online public affairs shop. During the 2004 Presidential Election, Morra was the Director of Internet Marketing for the Democratic National Committee, where she oversaw online fundraising, online organizing and marketing. Previously, she worked in the same capacity at the Kerry-Edwards campaign. Before coming to Washington, Morra managed iVillage.com’s award-winning public affairs program in New York, then transferred to London where she managed marketing and public relations for iVillage UK. Morra has a degree in Political Science from Brown University and a Master’s from the Harvard Kennedy School.
Deborah Beck, MA, is the President of Beck Research, a research and strategic consulting firm. Beck works on domestic and corporate projects, providing strategic advice to political campaigns, issue campaigns, and corporations. Prior to heading her own firm, Beck was a Senior Associate at Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research. Her political clients included Governor Edward Rendell (PA), Senator Christopher Dodd (CT), and Senator Joseph Lieberman (CT) as well as assisting the DCCC on targeted races. Beck also has extensive corporate research experience, working to develop the strategic positioning for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and Cooper University Hospital in Camden, NJ. She was the lead analyst for Communities for Quality Education, a national education advocacy organization. Before joining Greenberg Quinlan Rosner, Beck served as a Senior Analyst at Decision Research and as Deputy Research Director at Squier Knapp Ochs, a media and advertising firm, where she contributed to various campaigns including Clinton-Gore '96 and the Democratic National Committee. Beck received a graduate degree from the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania and her bachelor's degree from Vassar College. She teaches Research and Writing Methods and Polling for Strategic Communication.
John Bell John heads up the 360° Digital Influence team - Ogilvy PR’s global, digital word of mouth marketing practice designed to manage brands at a time when anyone can be an influencer and we are all influenced in new ways. His team has developed and executed social media strategy for clients as diverse as TJMaxx, Lance Armstrong Foundation, Lenovo, Unilever and more. The team’s focus is on engaging through conversations, outreach to new influencers and word of mouth marketing. John is a Web 1.0 graduate. As Creative Director at Discovery Communications, he transformed a single web site into 14 Web communities and services from DiscoveryKids.com to Animalplanet.com and more. In the early nineties, when interactive television was imminent, John headed up the creative studio for the joint ITV venture between Viacom and AT&T. Currently, John serves as the President of the board of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association. He teaches Public Relations in the Age of Digital Influence.
Rick Borchelt is communications director for the Genetics and Public Policy Center at Johns Hopkins University. He has had a varied career in science communications, including stints as media relations director for the National Academy of Sciences; press secretary for the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space and Technology; special assistant for public affairs in the Executive Office of The President during the Clinton Administration; director of communications for the Department of Energy's Office of Science; and director of communications and public affairs at The Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research at MIT. He also spent a year abroad in Nairobi as executive speech writer to the U.N. Undersecretary General/Director of the United Nations Environment Programme. Borchelt consults regularly for professional organizations and research agencies on issues of scientific trust and public relations strategy. Recent clients have included the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Mass., NSF, and NASA. He is an award-winning (Council for the Advancement and Support of Education; Society for Government Communication) writer who has served as president of the D.C. Science Writers Association and as a Board member of the National Association of Science Writers. He received the National Association of Science Writers' Distinguished Service Award in 2001, and was elected in 2009 to the board of the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing. He teaches Editorial and Opinion Writing.
Shonali Burke, ABC, is an accredited, award-winning independent communications consultant based in the Washington, D.C., area, specializing in research-based, measurable, integrated communications supporting business objectives. Now in the second decade of her career, Shonali's experience includes working with for- and non-profit organizations including the ASPCA where, as the organization's Vice President for Media & Communications, she put in place the organization's award-winning communications measurement program. Her work has been cited several times in industry media including PRWeek and The Measurement Standard, and she speaks frequently on the multi-faceted business of public relations at industry events. In December 2007, she was named one of the top "40 Under 40" public relations professionals in the United States by PRWeek. Shonali is IABC/Washington's 2008-2009 President-Elect, and also serves on IABC's International Accreditation Council. She teaches Communication.org: Not-for-profits in the Digital Age.
Dona Coultice-Christian, MA, has extensive experience in federal government communication. She retired after a 29 year career that spanned enforcement, benefits-granting and senior management. Upon retirement, she was the Director of the California Service Center, the INS's largest adjudicative site with a combined public sector/contractor workforce of 1,000. She spent 5 years as the Associate Regional Director for Legalization and was significantly involved in establishing stakeholder advisory groups, delivering media presentations, speaking at public forums and preparing external and internal messages and documents. She has a BA in Communication Theory and an MA in Organizational Management. She teaches Managerial Communication.
Stephanie Cutter, JD, has spun political issues and crafted communications strategies for the nation’s leading political figures and campaigns. After serving as a Senior Adviser and Michelle Obama’s Chief of Staff on the Obama for America Campaign, Cutter became the Chief Spokesperson for the Obama-Biden Transition, developing message and communications strategies for the roll-out of the new Administration’s policies and cabinet. At the start of the Obama Administration, she worked as Counselor to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner before becoming an Adviser to the President for the Judge Sonia Sotomayor confirmation battle for the Supreme Court. Previously, Cutter has served as Senior Advisor to Senator Edward Kennedy and Majority Leader Harry Reid, as White House Deputy Communications Director for President Clinton, and as Communications Director for the Kerry for President campaign. She has run her own strategic communications firm, The Cutter Media Group, and has developed and implemented research-based messaging, communications and outreach plans for several Fortune 500 companies; Senators, Governors, candidates, AARP, The ONE Campaign, and several national coalitions. She is a graduate of Smith College and the Georgetown University Law Center, and has frequently appeared as a Democratic strategist discussing the issues of the day on CNN, MSNBC, Bloomberg TV and Fox News Channel. She teaches Political Communication Campaings.
Esta de Fossard-Nelson, MA, MEd, was employed for 10 years at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Center for Communication Programs as a Senior Advisor in Entertainment- Education (E-E). Prior to that she was an independent international contractor in the field of education and Entertainment-Education. She recently returned to independent contracting and teaches E-E at Johns Hopkins Baltimore campus, and at the Zanvyl Krieger School of Advanced Communication in Washington DC. She has more than 20 years experience in E-E programming in the developing world, having worked in more than 50 countries. She is widely experienced in radio and television writing and production, and has been a consultant to Discovery Channel, NPR, and Barney programs. She is the author of more than 50 published books, including training manuals for E-E; school and college text books in Literature, Writing, Grammar, Logical Thinking; and children's books. She is a prize winner in the Australian Children's Book Awards. De Fossard teaches Behavior Change and Education through Entertainment and Intercultural Communication.
Dianne Donovan, MA, is an independent media consultant and editor whose clients include the Washington Post, the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission and Prism, the magazine for engineering education. Donovan, who specializes in persuasive and opinion writing, has been a vice-president and editorial page editor at The Baltimore Sun and prior to that was on the Editorial Board of the Chicago Tribune. In her 25 years at the Tribune, she served as editorial writer, op-ed page editor, op-ed page columnist, literary editor, commentary editor and foreign-national desk copy desk chief. She has taught at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, the University of Illinois at Chicago and the University of Oregon School of Journalism. Donovan is the recipient of the American Society of Newspaper Editors Award for Excellence in Editorial Writing, the Chicago Bar Association Award for Excellence in Editorial Writing and the Friends of American Literature Award for Literary Criticism. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Spring Hill College in Mobile, Ala., and Master’s degrees from the University of Missouri (Journalism) and the University of Chicago (English Language and Literature). She teaches Public Relations Writing.
Margaret Edmunds, PhD, is a health policy analyst and researcher who specializes in using strategic communications and information technology to reach policy goals. She has taught health policy and health communications at Johns Hopkins University since 1999 and co-developed an online course on risk communications for the Johns Hopkins Center for Public Health Preparedness. Currently a Vice President with The Lewin Group, Edmunds provides strategic management counsel for projects involving communications research and technology adoption. She has directed projects involving multimedia and multicultural campaigns and has held senior positions at the Institute of Medicine, University of California-San Francisco, and Children's Defense Fund. Edmunds is the lead author of two books published by the National Academy Press and has published journal articles, book chapters, commentary, and media backgrounders. She received a multidisciplinary doctoral degree from Penn State and completed post-doctoral work at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and School of Public Health. Edmunds teaches Emergency and Risk Communication.
Jill Egeth, PhD, is a Lead Behavioral Scientist with the MITRE Corporation, within the Social, Behavioral, and Linguistic Sciences department. Her current research interests include: 1) Understanding and modeling the human/ social/ cultural/behavioral terrain and 2) Assessing the nations' pandemic influenza health cognitions and the impact of these cognitions on emergency preparedness and response activities. Jill received her doctorate in Health and Social Psychology from Rutgers University. She teaches both Persuasion Research and Health Psychology and Behavior Change in the Communication Program and Political Psychology and The Psychology of Terror in the Government program.
Heather Epkins, MA, has extensive experience in media-government relations having most recently served as the Communications Director for America's Travel Industry Association, as well as a broadcast journalist, on-air TV and radio personality and Capitol Hill press secretary. She founded an award-winning, nationally-recognized anti-drug abuse program and has worked on several national political campaigns. Epkins has also taken the communications lead for several strategic corporate and non-profit association campaigns regarding issues such as domestic national security and travel post-9/11, anti-drug abuse in youth, peer mentorship, family issues, tourism and elderly care, winning several national awards for her television advertising. Epkins received a M.A. from Louisiana State University as a Manship School Fellow in 1998 after conducting ground-breaking research on the impact of media violence on women's health. She is a national START Center (National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and the Responses to Terrorism) fellow and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Communication at the University of Maryland, College Park. Her research focuses on how the "prestige press" of Washington, D.C. report on national security and terrorism-related issues. She teaches Media Theory.
Mark Fratrik, PhD, is vice president of BIA Financial Network (BIAfn), where he conducts industry studies on the broadcasting- and related industries, and consults with clients in these industries about their strategic directions. Prior to joining BIAfn, Fratrik served for nearly 16 years as vice president and economist at the National Association of Broadcasters. He received his Ph.D. and MA in Economics from Texas A& M University, and his BA in Economics (Honors) and Mathematics from the State University of New York. He is the author of several articles published in academic and business journals. Frantrik teaches Political Economy of Mass Communication.
Charles Fulwood, co-founder and Partner of MediaVision USA, is a veteran communications strategist and executive manager with more than 20 years of national and international experience. He specializes in crisis management, risk and emergency communications, litigation communications, and public media campaigns. Fulwood is the former Communications Director for Amnesty International USA, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Children's Defense Fund. Fulwood is also the co-developer of an online course on Risk Communications for the Johns Hopkins Center for Public Health Preparedness. He teaches Emergency and Risk Communication.
Simon Goldsworthy is Senior Lecturer in Public Communication at the University of Westminster, London. He established London's first Master of Arts course in Public Relations and has since added the teaching of Public Relations to the University's undergraduate programs. He has lectured to international audiences, including at Tsinghua University in Beijing and the Sorbonne in Paris, where he is a Visiting Professor. His civil service career included working at the UK's Central Office of Information and press office roles within a number of UK Government departments. He has also worked as a PR consultant in the private sector. He has written a wide range of academic articles on PR, propaganda, advertising and journalism and, with Trevor Morris, is the author of three books: Public Relations for Asia; Public Relations for the New Europe; and PR - A Persuasive Industry? Public Relations, Spin and the Shaping of the Modern Media. Goldsworthy teaches Public Relations and Public Affairs from a European Perspective.
David Helfert, MA, is Communication Director for U.S. Representative Neil Abercrombie, who chairs a House Armed Services Subcommittee. Previously, He was Democratic spokesman for the House Appropriations Committee, and worked for the chairman of an Appropriations Subcommittee. Helfert came to the House of Representatives in 2001, after six years as a Communication and Public Affairs Director in the Clinton Administration. He was a newspaper, radio and television news reporter and anchor, public information director for the Texas House of Representatives, managing partner of a marketing/advertising agency for nine years and a political/governmental media consultant for seven. Helfert has written and produced print, television and radio advertising for retail, corporate, association and public service clients, and more than 200 political campaigns. He did his undergraduate work in Journalism at the University of Texas and earned a Master's degree in Public Communication from American University in Washington, DC, where he has taught upper division and graduate courses in the School of Communication. He teaches Press Secretary: Theory and Practice.
Una Hildebrandt, MLS, serves as a Communications Consultant with Accenture, supporting a client in the federal government. She is an expert in the identification and use of specialized information resources to inform fact-based decision-making in audience selection, analysis, and understanding. She has more than 10 years of experience gathering and synthesizing information to support the development, implementation, and evaluation of communications programs for firms including Booz Allen Hamilton, Fleishman Hillard, and Porter Novelli. She holds a BS from Cornell University and a MLS from the University of Maryland. She teaches Understanding Markets and Audiences.
Margaret Holtz, MS, has more than 30 years of public relations and communication experience and is a consultant in strategic communication with both national and international clients. She was the senior civilian public affairs specialist in the Department of Navy for 18 years. She has extensive experience developing and managing strategic communication policy and programs and working with national media. She planned and led major events involving heads of state and was a key figure in DOD public affairs activities worldwide. Holtz began her career by writing for a number of publications and supervised a number of award winning publications and programs. She holds an MS in Public Relations Management from The American University. She is accredited by the Public Relations Society of America and teaches Introduction to Public Relations.
Anya Karavanov, PhD, has extensive experience in designing, conducting, and analyzing consumer market research and developing comprehensive strategic marketing plans and communication materials. She has led several social marketing campaigns and initiatives for the Federal Government and nonprofit organizations such as Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, American Diabetes Association, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the GE Foundation. Recently, for Corporation for Public Broadcasting and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Dr. Karavanov spearheaded a number of data collection efforts and message development for low-income populations and minority groups. Dr. Karavanov has also led a number of communication and research activities for private sector clients encompassing brand positioning and image studies. She has overseen creative processes to develop brand identity and various communication materials. Dr. Karavanov is currently an adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University. She teaches Communicating for Social Change.
Benjamin Lozare, PhD, is the Associate Director and Chief in the Training Division of The Johns Hopkins University Center for Communication Programs. Dr. Lozare has more than 25 years of experience in research, teaching, and practice in international and development communication. He has served as Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the Health Sciences Campus of the University of the Philippines, as the first Director-General of the Philippine Information Agency, and as Deputy Secretary-General of the Asian Mass Communication Research and Information Center Foundation. He has consulted with UN agencies such as the World Health Organization, the Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East, and the UNFPA. At Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs, he has led the development of SCOPE (Strategic Communication Planning and Evaluation), a computer-aided communication planning software used in training workshops. Dr. Lozare was an Eisenhower Fellow and recipient of the first Newsweek International Communication Grant. He obtained his Ph.D. in mass communications from the University of Wisconsin. He teaches Strategic Communication Program Management.
Monte Lutz, MBA, is a Vice President of Digital Public Affairs for Edelman, where he is integrating social media into traditional public affairs initiatives. Monte is a social media pioneer who created his first political blog in 1998 - Voter’s Block. He also is the founder of Reelsoundtrack.com. Monte has been developing and implementing targeted marketing and PR campaigns for 14 years. He got his start in traditional media, working at CBS News and C-SPAN. As Vice President of The Public Forum Institute, Monte produced Congressional forums on health, education, and technology issues. He has led traditional, social media, and marketing programs for numerous organizations, including McDonald’s, Disney, Red Cross, OSHA, NASA and API. His work has been recognized by PR Week as one of the top crisis communications efforts of the year. He also produced an award-winning Super Bowl ad for Monster.com, which was ranked by USA TODAY as one of the Top 10 TV ads of all time. Monte previously served as a speechwriter for the U.S. Secretary of Labor and the publisher of Fortune magazine. He has bachelor’s degrees in Government and Religious Studies from Claremont McKenna College and an MBA from the University of Florida. He teaches Introduction to the Digital Age.
Priyanka Matanhelia, MA, is a new media researcher and blogger. She is a doctoral candidate in the Phillip Merrill College of Journalism at University of Maryland, College Park. She is writing her dissertation on mobile phone usage among youth in India. In Washington DC, she has worked as a media researcher with CARMA (Computer Aided Research & Media Analysis) in Washington DC. Prior to coming to USA, she completed her Master’s in Communication from SNDT University, India. While in India, she was a lecturer at International School of Business and Media in Pune and a visiting faculty at Dept. of Communication Media for children, SNDT University; Dept. of Mass Communication, Pune; and Rosary Institute of Mass Communication. She also worked as a communications consultant/researcher for UNESCO, DFID, and Zenith Media. She also has experience in media production and direction. She teaches Introduction to the Digital Age.
Nicholas Mele was born in West Africa to foreign service parents. He is the founder and president of EchoDitto (EchoDitto.com), a leading internet strategy consulting company with offices in Washington DC, New York, and Cambridge, Massachusetts. EchoDitto's clients include the Clinton Foundation (MyCommitment.org), Research In Motion (Blackberry), Rosie O'Donnell (Rosie.com), the United Nations World Food Programme (FightHunger.org) and Hughes (HughesNet.com). Nicco has broad experience working with emerging technologies and is a considered a pioneer in the social media and Web 2.0 field. As the Internet Operations Director of Gov. Dean's presidential primary campaign in 2003, Nicco managed all technical, functional and design aspects of Gov. Dean's national web presence. Following the Dean campaign, one of EchoDitto's first clients was a then little-known state senator in Illinois, Barack Obama, who was running for a seat in the US Senate. Nicco is a co-founder of GeniusRocket.com, a crowdsourced creative ad agency, and he is also a co-founder of ProxyDemocracy.com, an online resource for proxy voting and shareholder resolutions. In December of 2003, Nicco was named one of America 's "best and brightest" by Esquire magazine. Nicco teaches in the Johns Hopkins University graduate communications program and has presented for Harvard University's Berkman Center and John F. Kennedy School of Government. Nicco sits on the board of Democracy 21 (Democracy21.org), a non-partisan campaign finance reform group founded by Fred Wertheimer, and the Lower East Side Girls Club (GirlsClub.org). His podcasts about Mayan archaeology are an internet cult favorite: http://http://radio.echoditto.com/junglecast/. He teaches Introduction to the Digital Age.
Jad Melki, PhD, the research director of ICMPA and a faculty member at the Salzburg Academy on Media and Global Change, is a professor of journalism and media studies at the American University of Beirut. Melki was a broadcast and online journalist for over 10 years working with American and Arabic media. He was part of the Webby award and Press Club award winning Hot Zone team (Yahoo! News), covering the Hezbollah-Israel war of summer 2006. Melki’s research focuses on journalism and media education and curricular development, global media literacy, media development, coverage of war and terrorism, trauma journalism, and new and digital media. Melki received his Ph.D. in Journalism and Media Studies from the University of Maryland, College Park. He teaches Research and Writing Methods, Essential Skills in Digital Media Literacy, and Thesis.
Memi Miscally, DrPH, MPH, is Director of Research at JVR Communications, LLC, a woman-owned health communications and social marketing firm. She leads study design, data collection, analysis, and report-writing tasks for formative, process, and impact studies that employ qualitative and quantitative methods. The findings inform the strategic planning, implementation, refinement, and dissemination of national and community-based public health and social service efforts. Her public and private sector clients have included the National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Children’s Bureau, Prince George’s County Public Schools, Infectious Disease Society of America, Men Can Stop Rape, and American Social Health Association. Memi earned her DrPH at The George Washington University and MPH and BS at Tulane University. Memi teaches Research and Writing Methods.
Monica Moore, M.Ed., has completed doctoral course work in Education, Policy Planning and Leadership at the University of Maryland College Park and is the Executive Director of Academic Services in the Advanced Academic Programs at Johns Hopkins University. She has taught at College of Notre Dame, the University of Maryland and Florida International University in Miami. Moore is the owner of High Aspirations, LLC, an educational and management consulting service and possesses extensive experience in marketing and communication in higher education. She has served as a Senior Director at Georgetown University, Assistant Dean for Marketing & Outreach at American University and the Vice President for Enrollment Management at College of Notre Dame of Maryland. Moore holds a bachelor's degree in Communication Arts from Salisbury University and a Master of Education degree from the University of Maryland College Park. She teaches Organizational Communication.
Susan Morris, PhD, received her B.A. degree in Economics (with Honors) from Columbia University and her M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in the History of Science, Medicine, and Technology from Johns Hopkins. She has several years' experience in the fields of publishing, economic research, the marketing of consumer and industrial products, and as an entrepreneur. She has also been an advisor and consulting editor in producing science documentaries for public broadcasting. Her published work examines how 19th-century scientists crafted their scientific writing to persuade and appeal to a lay public. Her current research includes scientific communication, entrepreneurship in science, and the history of communications technology. She teaches Thesis, Introduction to Graduate Work, Directed Readings in Communications, and Publishing: Foundation and Future.
Illa Moskowitz, PhD, earned her doctorate in Interdisciplinary Engineering Science from Clarkson University, NY and has undergraduate degrees in Physics and Materials Engineering from the Technion. She has been teaching courses in Statisitics, Logic, and General Science at Strayer University for five years. Illa has conducted scientific research on semiconductors and thin films and has published several journal papers related to this work.
David Nichols currently serves as Chairman of CounterPoint Strategies, a high-stakes communications firm with offices in New York City and Washington, D.C. He is the founder and retired Chairman and CEO of Nichols • Dezenhall Communications Management Group, Ltd., where he specialized in crisis management, risk communications and spokesperson training. Before forming Nichols • Dezenhall, he was senior vice president and account group manager at Needham Porter Novelli (Omnicom). Nichols began his career as an investigative news correspondent. He left the news business to become a campaign press secretary for New York City Mayor John V. Lindsay. He later served as Chief of Staff for the Wisconsin Legislature's Joint Committee on Finance, and was subsequently appointed Deputy Secretary of Revenue, a state cabinet-level position. He relocated to Washington, D.C. to become senior media spokesperson for the Cuban-Haitian Task Force under the Carter and Reagan administrations, where he managed crisis communications following the controversial 1980 Mariel boatlift. He has appeared as a spokesperson on numerous television network news programs. He is the author of Rules for Corporate Warriors (2001), a primer on crisis management. In addition to developing a unique crisis management formula, Nichols has written a series of articles and publications that define and examine crisis management strategies and media relations tactics. He teaches Crisis and Issue Communication and Spokesperson Development and Training.
Molly O'Rourke, MA, is a senior vice president with Hart Research and has been with the company for more than ten years. In that capacity, she has conducted quantitative and qualitative research projects for a variety of nonprofit organizations, corporations, political candidates, labor unions, and media organizations. O'Rourke has a special interest in women and politics and regularly conducts research for EMILY's List and its Women Vote program and other special projects aimed at better understanding distinctive trends in the women's electorate. She has also assisted with and directed the polling for several women candidates for federal and state offices. Before joining Hart Research, O'Rourke worked for Senator Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ), EMILY's List and for the Center for Public Interest Polling at Rutgers University's Eagleton Institute. For several years, she co-wrote a monthly column about politics and public opinion titled "Behind The Numbers" for The Hill, a Capitol Hill newspaper. O'Rourke graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Brown University and holds a master's degree from the University of Michigan, where she was awarded a Kellogg Foundation Fellowship. She teaches Research and Writing Methods.
Grant Perry, JD, is a new media consultant, journalist and lawyer. Perry heads Evolution Strategies, a consulting firm specializing in media training, new media strategies and content development. Perry was an award-winning journalist at CNN, where he was a New York-based correspondent and then anchor of CNN International's London-based business program, World Business Today. Perry went on to work as a new media executive and consultant in Europe, the Silicon Valley and New York. He has produced live Webcasts, Web video, TV segments and marketing promotions for Yahoo, Salon.com, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia and Francis Ford Coppola. Early in his career, he was chief political correspondent for two network affiliates in the Midwest. Perry has taught journalism at American University and is a member of the Washington, DC Bar. Perry teaches Journalism in the Digital Age and Spokesperson Development and Training.
Steve Rabinowitz is President of Rabinowitz/Dorf Communications, a media consulting and public affairs firm in Washington, DC, specializing in domestic American politics, progressive foreign policy initiatives and ethnic and religious affairs. A seasoned media consultant, political event planner and publicist, he served former President Bill Clinton as Director of Design and Production for the White House. As such, Rabinowitz designed and produced all of the President's public events in Washington and oversaw the press coverage of those and others outside the capital. His focus was with an eye toward how these events would appear on television news programs and in U.S. and foreign newspapers. He has worked on the national staffs of nine U.S. presidential campaigns and has held various positions on countless others for every kind of office. He has a deep knowledge of campaign politics and issue advocacy dating back twenty-five years. He is also a partner in the high-tech media firm QRS Newmedia, created to advance the very latest in targeted media strategies to its high-profile political, governmental, corporate and non-profit clients. He teaches Political Communication: Campaigns.
Joel Ranck, MBA, is the director of Continuing Education in the Health Professions at George Washington University Medical Center. He provides leadership, instructional design, new product development, meeting planning and marketing services for educational products directed a health care practitioners. Ranck is the founder of Lincoln Park Communications, a communications consultancy that serves healthcare, biotechnology, technology, market research organizations and economic development agencies. Over his 19 years as a communicator, Ranck has executed a variety projects for companies such as Children's National Medical Center, Pfizer, McCaw International, Ford Motor Company, First Union, Current Analysis, Pepco, and AIG, to name a few. He has worked for Eklektik Communications (Prague, CZ), Golin/Harris International and Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide. Ranck has been recognized by both PRSA and IABC for excellence in communications. He teaches Integrated Marketing Communication.
Alan Rosenblatt, PhD, is the Associate Director for Online Advocacy at the Center for American Progress Action Fund. He is a long-time and frequent speaker and author on digital media, advocacy, and politics, including social networking, blogging, grassroots, and mobile advocacy strategies. He is the founder of the Internet Advocacy Center; a Fellow at George Washington University’s Institute for Politics, Democracy & the Internet; and a blogger at the award-winning TechPresident.com and DrDigiPol.com. He is also a founding team member of Media Bureau Networks (MBN), a pioneer in streaming media services; a contributing editor to Politics Online; serves on the editorial boards of several scholarly journals dedicated to the study of the internet, politics, and government; and is a member of the Board of Directors for E-Democracy.org. With MBN, he webcasted live coverage of the 2000 Presidential Conventions. In 2001, he served as Vice President for Online Advocacy Services division at Stateside Associates. From 2003 to 2005 he served as Director of Training Programs at e-advocates. Alan Rosenblatt has a PhD in Political Science from American University, an MA in Political Science from Boston College, and a BA in Political Science and Philosophy from Tufts University. He teaches Digital Political Strategy.
Andrew Schwartzman, JD, is the President and CEO of Media Access Project. He also serves on the International Advisory Board of Southwestern Law School's National Entertainment & Media Law Institute. His board memberships include the Advisory Board of the Center for Democracy and Technology, and the Board of Directors of the Minority Media Telecommunications Council. His work has been published in major legal and general journals, including Variety, Electronic Media, The Washington Post, COMM/ENT Law Journal and The ABA Journal. He has also been a frequent guest on television and radio programs. In recognition of his service as chief counsel in the public interest community's challenge to the FCC's June, 2003 media ownership deregulation decision, Scientific American honored Schwartzman as one of the nation's 50 leaders in technology for 2004. He teaches Communications Law and Policy Making.
Adam Segal, MA, is a successful public relations and marketing executive who runs The 2050 Group, a PR consulting agency he founded in 2006. He is also the founder and director of the Hispanic Voter Project at Johns Hopkins University, an internationally recognized project that studies the ways candidates, parties, and groups reach out to Hispanic voters. Segal is one of the nation's leading experts on campaign communications efforts aimed at Hispanic voters and has established close relationships with Republicans and Democrats. Frequently cited by national media, he has appeared on numerous network and cable TV news programs. Segal contributed a chapter to "The Mass Media and Latino Politics: Studies of U.S. Media Content, Campaign Strategies and Survey Research: 1984-2004" (Routledge/Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Jan. 16, 2008). He also directs the Johns Hopkins University Internet and Mobile Communication Project. Segal teaches Ethnic Marketing and Political Communication and Internet Strategies: Commerce, Communities, Government. He has been teaching in JHU’s MA in Communication Program since January 2004.
Claire Sheahan, MSc, is a senior vice president at Fleishman-Hillard International Communication's healthcare practice. She has more than twelve years of experience in media relations, public affairs, public health, and integrated communications. She has developed and conducted winning media strategies for programs ranging from corporate product launches to seat-belt safety campaigns, including generating regular coverage in top-tier print, radio, broadcast, and online media. Sheahan holds an MSc from the London School of Economics in Media and Communications, and her clients and employers have included the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, Amgen, Daimler Chrysler, and Cisco Systems. She will be teaching Media Relations.
Scott Talan, MPA, has worked in media, PR and communications in three distinct fields: TV News, Politics & Nonprofits. Scott has recently worked at the UN with UNICEF, Harvard University and the New Mexico Legislature. He currently is the Director of Communications for the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs (NASPAA.org) and has successfully developed social networking platforms using You Tube, Facebook & Wikipedia. Talan has worked as a writer at ABC News 'Good Morning America' for hosts Diane Sawyer and Charlie Gibson. He's also reported on-air for local TV news stations (Fla, NM, CA) in several states covering politics including the 2000 Presidential Recount story in Florida. Before news, Talan served as an elected city council member and Mayor of Lafayette, California. His first career was in nonprofit PR working for the March of Dimes. Talan received his Master in Public Administration from Harvard's Kennedy School . He studied broadcast journalism at Stanford after getting his BA from University of California at Davis. Talan has written several travel stories on Cuba, Mongolia and Europe. Talan teaches Pitches, Press Releases & Messages in the Summer.
Jill Tanenbaum, MA, is the President and Creative Director of Jill Tanenbaum Graphic Design & Advertising Inc., an award-winning full-service marketing, advertising, and graphic design company located in Bethesda, Maryland since 1982. JTGD&A produces work that includes strategic marketing and branding, print and broadcast advertising, e-marketing, public relations, print collateral, direct mail, exhibit design, multimedia, and website design. For several years, the firm has been listed as one of the top graphic design firms in the prestigious Washington Business Journal Book of Lists. Since 2004, DiversityBusiness.com awarded the firm one of the top woman-owned, multi-cultural earners in the state of Maryland. Jill has a Master of Arts in Publications Design from the University of Baltimore. She teaches Branding and Advertising.
Charles Todd is NBC News Political Director. Todd also serves as NBC News' on-air political analystfor "NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams," "Today," "Meet the Presswith Tim Russert" and MSNBC, including "Hardball with Chris Matthews." He was formerly Editor-in-Chief of The Hotline, Washington's premier daily briefing on American politics. Todd is one of Washington's foremost experts on political campaigns of all levels. In March, 2001, George magazine named Todd one of the 50 most influential people in politics. He teaches Political Communication: Campaigns.
Erik Turkman, MFA, has worked in philanthropy, publishing, museums, music, and he has taught writing and communications since 1996. Prior to arriving at Johns Hopkins, he worked in the Environment Program at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and he was on faculty at Stanford University in the Program in Writing and Rhetoric. He previously taught at SUNY Stony Brook, Concordia University (St. Paul), and the University of Alabama. He worked in the Art Department of Esquire magazine, the Exhibitions Department at the International Center of Photography, and he was the Visual Resources Coordinator for the architectural firm I. M. Pei & Partners. His research interests include neuroscience and psychology, especially the brain’s development from adolescence to adulthood, investigating how this transition relates to communicative and persuasive behavior. Among numerous past courses, he has taught the Demise of Higher Education, Multiple Rhetoric Theory, Images with Intent: Powerful and Purposeful Photography, the Rhetoric of Compassion, Science & Rhetoric: the Accessibility of Uncertainty, and the Rhetoric of Animal Interaction. He teaches Introduction to Graduate Work in Communication.
Jane Twomey, PhD, is Program Coordinator for the MA in Communication. She received her PhD in Mass Communication from the University of Maryland at College Park. She holds a Master's degree in Mass Communication and a Bachelor's degree in Honors English from California State University at Northridge. Before coming to Hopkins Twomey taught for 10 years in the School of Communication at American University. Twomey began her career in public relations and communication management. While at the University of Maryland she served as assistant editor for the Journal of Communication. Her research areas include race, hegemony and the media; and collective memory and media representation. Her work has appeared in Journal of Communication, Journalism History, Race, Gender & Class, the Baltimore Sun and the Houston Chronicle. Twomey teaches Research and Writing Methods, Media Theory, Persuasion Research, Thesis, and Race, Gender and the Media and runs the department’s Round Table series.
Gregory Weiner, M.A.L.S., president of Content Communications, L.L.C., writes speeches, op-eds and other projects for leading corporate executives, major political figures and international communications firms. His clients have included CEO's of Fortune 500 companies, Cabinet secretaries in both the Clinton and Bush administrations, several U.S. senators and cutting-edge high-tech startups. He has written speeches for major business, political and policy forums as well as op-eds and advertisements that have appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Boston Globe and other prominent outlets. Weiner -- who has also ghost-written two books -- has been a journalist, statewide campaign manager and aide to three U.S. Senators. He holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Texas at Austin and a master's degree from Georgetown University, where he is a doctoral candidate in political theory. Weiner teaches Speechwriting: Content and Delivery and History of American Political Communications.
Paula Weissman, MA, is Program Coordinator for the MA in Communication. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Communication at the University of Maryland at College Park. She earned her Master’s degree in Communication from the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania in 1998. Weissman has extensive experience working with a variety of private and public sector organizations working to improve health. She has conducted research for several national health communication campaigns, including campaigns to encourage physical activity, improve nutrition, and increase cancer prevention behaviors. Her research areas include health and risk communication with an emphasis on mass media messages and effects. Weissman teaches Research and Writing Methods, Developing Health Communication Campaigns, Using Evaluation to Improve Health Communication, and Thesis.
Xu Wu, PhD, is a Professor of Strategic Media and Public Relations at Arizona State University and the author of Chinese Cyber Nationalism: Evolution, Characteristics, and Implications (April 2007). Before his career as a professor, Wu worked as a national correspondent and news editor at the Xinhua (New China) News Agency in Beijing for six years. He was the co-founder of the media consulting agency Unicorn Culture and the director of Beijing's first soccer weekly: 11 Players (1998-2000). He received both his doctoral degree and master degree from University of Florida, with specializations in China media system, crisis management, political communication and international public relations. His work has been published by Journal of Communication, Public Relations Quarterly, Public Relations Review, Asian Journal of Communication, International Communication Gazette, Journal of Public Relations Research, etc. As an expert on Chinese cyber nationalism and international public relations, he was interviewed and quoted by major media outlets such as AP, AFP, Reuters, BBC, Al Jazeera, New Yorker, Chicago Tribune, the Guardian, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, CCTV, Strait Times, etc. He teaches Communication in China.
Robert Zachariasiewicz retired as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs at the U.S. Department of Labor after 29 years in the federal civil service. He spent his last two years, 2006-2008, on a long-term detail to the Environmental Protection Agency as its Director of Media Relations to assist the agency in the reorganization of its public affairs operations. During his long career, Zachariasiewicz had also been loaned by the Labor Department as a direct consultant on public affairs organization and operations to the World Bank and the governments of Hungary and Bulgaria. In addition to managing the day-to-day activities of a Cabinet agency's public affairs office, he provided training for departmental executives and senior staff on public relations campaigns and media relations. Zachariasiewicz teaches Public Affairs.