STEPHANIE PADGETT brings more than 20 years of advertising and media experience to her role as assistant professor in strategic communication. She teaches classes in media planning and serves as director of media, research and operations for Mojo Ad, the student-staffed advertising agency that specializes in the Youth and Young Adult (YAYA) market.

Prior to arriving at School of Journalism, Padgett worked at Empower MediaMarketing, Cincinnati. In this role, Padgett developed and executed media plans for clients as diverse as Marion Merrel Dow, Roto-Rooter and Lens Crafters, as well as leading the agency training and research departments. She was part of the successful launch of Nicoderm and Nicorette, one of the first direct-to-consumer advertising campaigns. Padgett served as the Midwest manager for The Media Audit, a syndicated research provider based in Houston.

During the 2009-2010 academic year, Padgett served as a Fellow at the Reynolds Journalism Institute, where she studied ways for newspapers to increase their revenue from online advertising.

Padgett previously served as an adjunct professor at Xavier University in Cincinnati. She has been recognized as an industry leader by the American Academy of Advertising.

Padgett earned a bachelor of arts degree in English at the College of William and Mary.