JUSTIN F. WILLETT is a doctoral student with a focus on health advertising and leadership communication. His expected graduation date is May 2025. Willett has a Master of Health Administration degree from the University of Missouri School of Medicine and a Bachelor of Journalism degree from the Missouri School of Journalism. He serves as a research mentor with the Gregory Scholars Program and is a staff member of the Novak Leadership Institute. Willett teaches courses including JOURN 4242/7242 Strategic Communication Leadership and has certifications in Online Teaching, Inclusive Teaching, and Writing Intensive (WI) courses.

Before starting his doctoral program, Willett served as communication manager at MU Health Care and the School of Medicine from 2018-2021. He helped lead MU Health Care’s COVID-19 communication efforts, including promotion of the health system’s COVID-19 vaccine program. Under Willett’s leadership, the health system’s evidence-based COVID-19 vaccine content garnered millions of pageviews and boosted total pageviews of muhealth.org owned content by nearly 1200% in 2021 (13 times higher than 2020). Willett’s professional experience includes writing, content marketing, publications, website design and strategy, and social media strategy and planning.

Publications

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

Willett, J. F., LaGree, D., Houston, J. B., Shin, H., & Duffy, M. (2023). The role of leader communication in fostering respectful workplace culture and increasing employee engagement and well-being. International Journal of Business Communication. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/23294884231195614

Refereed Conference Papers

Willett, J. F., LaGree, D., Warner, B. R., Houston, J. B., & Duffy, M. (2024, June 20-24). Flourishing with flexibility: Leader communicative support of flexible work arrangements (FWA) enhances employee engagement and well-being [Paper presentation]. International Communication Association 2024 Conference, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.

Willett, J. F., Rodgers S., Stemmle, J. (2023, August 7-10). Seeking the public health angle in Missouri newspaper coverage of the opioid crisis [Poster session]. Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication 2023 Conference, Washington, D.C., United States.

Willett, J. F., LaGree, D., Houston, J. B., Shin, H., & Duffy, M. (2023, May 25-29). The role of leader communication in fostering respectful workplace culture and increasing employee engagement and well-being [Paper presentation]. International Communication Association 2023 Conference, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Curriculum Vitae

View Justin F. Willett’s curriculum vitae here