Mizzou Alumni Association Honors 2 Journalism Faculty and Alumna with Faculty-Alumni Awards
The Recognition Celebrates Outstanding Service and Professional Accomplishments
By Caroline Murray
Columbia, Mo. (Oct. 16, 2014) — The Mizzou Alumni Association recognized two Missouri School of Journalism faculty and one alumna during its 47th annual Faculty-Alumni Awards ceremony Oct. 10 at the Reynolds Alumni Center at the University of Missouri.
Margaret Duffy, strategic communication professor, Mitchell McKinney, political communication professor, and Vicki Russell, BJ ’72, publisher at the Tribune Publishing Company in Columbia, were among the 14 faculty and alumni honored.
The Faculty-Alumni Awards celebrate outstanding faculty and alumni who work to advance the arts, sciences and humanities. Professors are considered for their teaching, research and service. Alumni are considered for their accomplishments in their professional lives and service to their alma mater.
Duffy leads the strategic communication faculty, directs the Missouri School of Journalism online master’s degree program and directs MOJO Ad and AdZou, the two student-staffed fee-based ad agencies at the School. She has extensive professional experience as a marketing executive, and she continues to consult with clients such as the U.S. Army and Estee Lauder Corp. Duffy, a founding board member of the Institute for Advertising Ethics, conducts research in narrative theory, persuasion, ethics, advertising, digital media and news. Her new book, co-authored with Associate Dean Esther Thorson, is “Advertising Age: The Principles of Advertising and Marketing Communication at Work.” It offers students and professionals insights into research-based strategies with highlights from Advertising Age. Duffy served as a Reynolds Journalism Institute fellow in 2008-09, received the President’s Award from the Missouri Press Association in 2009 and received the Top Paper Award from the Visual Communication Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication in 2012, 2013 and 2014.
McKinney teaches courses in political communication and rhetorical theory and criticism in the Department of Communication and is the director of the Political Communication Institute at Missouri. He has a courtesy appointment with the School, where he served as a Reynolds Journalism Institute fellow in 2012-13. McKinney’s research interests include presidential debates, political campaigns, civic engagement, media and politics and presidential rhetoric. He is the co-author/editor of seven books. McKinney has served as a staff member in the U.S. Senate and at the White House and as a consultant to C-SPAN and the U.S. Commission on Presidential Debates. He has also served as president of the Central States Communication Association, director of Academic Affairs and chair of the Political Communication divisions for the National Communication Association, chair of the Central States Communication Association’s political communication interest group. McKinney has received several awards from MU, including the Kemper Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2009 and the Graduate Faculty Mentor Award in 2011.
Russell, BJ ’72, has trained hundreds of journalists during her 37-year career with the Tribune Publishing Company. Russell is believed to have been the youngest woman in the United States to serve as publisher for a daily newspaper at the time she was hired by the Fulton Sun at the age of 26. While at the Sun, she received editorial writing awards from the Missouri Press Association. When Russell left the newspaper in 1989, it had become one of the state’s most award-winning daily newspapers. Russell, who is former president of the Callaway County Chamber of Commerce board of directors, received the Outstanding Community Service Award from the Chamber in 1990. She served as chair of the Columbia Chamber of Commerce in 2011-12 and chair of Columbia Regional Economic Development, Inc. (REDI) from 2012-14. Russell is a founder and first president of the Missouri Society of Newspaper Editors. She served as president of the Missouri Press Association in 2009 and is currently the president of the Missouri Press Foundation.
MAA strengthens MU by supporting the best interests and traditions of Missouri’s flagship university. Founded in 1853, the Association keeps more than 270,000 alumni worldwide connected to each other and their alma mater.
Updated: July 31, 2020