The Missouri School of Journalism Welcomes Five New Faculty Members

Columbia, Mo. (Sept. 9, 2004) -- The Missouri School of Journalism welcomes five new faculty members. Three will join the advertising department as assistant professors:

Paul Bolls Strategic Communication Faculty Katherine Reed Newspaper Journalism Faculty María Len-Ríos Strategic Communication Faculty Rick Shaw Photojournalism Faculty Kevin Wise Strategic Communication Faculty

• Paul Bolls will teach management-related courses in strategic communication and graduate courses. His research focuses on cognitive/emotional processing of media, particularly in discovering how content and production features of media can be combined to create effective public health campaign messages. His work has been published in Communication Research, Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media and Journal of Marketing Communications and Media Psychology. Bolls has made major industry research presentations to the National Association of Broadcasters annual convention, the Seattle Advertising Federation and Danish National Radio, among others. He completed his doctoral degree in mass communication at Indiana University in 1999.
• Maria Len-Ríos will teach courses in cross-cultural journalism, public relations and other strategic communication topics. Her research focuses on public perceptions and how they relate to individuals' decision-making. More specifically, her studies focus on the uses and effects of Web site communications, health communication and underrepresented groups. Len-Ríos' work has been published in Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, The Journal of Promotion Management, Public Relations Review and Public Relations Quarterly. She completed her doctoral degree in journalism at the University of Missouri-Columbia in 2002.
• Kevin Wise researches the cognitive and emotional processing of mass media. His research employs physiological measures such as heart rate and skin conductance as indicators of cognitive and emotional responses to media. Wise is currently interested in how different features of interactive media influence these responses. Wise will teach the graduate course, Mass Media Seminar. He completed his doctoral degree in communication at Stanford University.

"Paul, Maria and Kevin are all wonderful researchers and teachers and our students will benefit from their expertise," said Margaret Duffy, advertising department chair. "We're delighted to welcome them to our Advertising Department faculty."

Two will join the staff of the Columbia Missourian, the community's daily morning newspaper:

• Katherine Reed will serve as the city editor supervising the business beat reporters and also as editor of the Missourian's bilingual monthly Adelante! She joins the faculty after a five-year stint in Prague, Czech Republic, where she was the editor-in-chief of the Prague Business Journal and an instructor at the Center for Independent Journalism. Reed received a master's degree in English and creative writing from Hollins University in Roanoke, Va., in 1991. She earned her bachelor of journalism degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1985.
• Rick Shaw is the director of photography for the Columbia Missourian. Previously he directed design, photography and graphics for The Hartford (Conn.) Courant and The Arizona Republic in Phoenix. Shaw has been recognized with several design and picture editing awards, including Picture Editor of the Year honors in POY and Picture Editing Quarterly Clip Competitions. Shaw received a bachelor degree in journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1978.

"Rick and Katherine are terrific," said Tom Warhover, associate professor and executive editor of the Columbia Missourian. "They are like those mid-season trades the Cardinals make: a playoff-bound team made great by critical additions."

The more than 90 faculty members at the School of Journalism conduct research in all areas of journalism and strategic communication, have won major teaching awards and serve as leaders in journalism-related organizations.