Kathryn Lucchesi
Associate Professor
Journalism Professions
001A Reynolds Journalism Institute
Missouri School of Journalism
Columbia, Mo. 65211
Kathryn “Kat” Lucchesi joined the Missouri School of Journalism in August 2019. She teaches J4820/7820 Audience Strategy and Engagement, and assists with J4824/7824, the applied practice course for the school’s Audience Strategy career path.
Kat plays a pivotal role in the journalism school’s professional newsrooms as a lead audience strategist at the Missourian and KOMU 8. With a background in sports storytelling, she guides students, reporters, and editors on creating collaborative audience strategies through social media content.
Beyond the classroom and newsrooms, Kat is involved in the journalism school and on campus. Kat is a faculty representative and subcommittee chair for the Intercollegiate Athletics Committee. She also leads the journalism school’s Assessment Committee as the chair. She participates on the university’s General Education Task Force, in the Mid-Career Cohort program, and in various voting groups for campus awards and scholarships.
She is a seasoned multimedia storyteller and digital strategist who has led communication teams for college athletic programs and private industry.
From 2018-2019, she practiced her storytelling skills at Stoller Wine Group, a company which leveraged economies of scale in the wine industry. As the Digital Marketing Director, she led the digital strategy for the five wine brands on social media, advertising, and content creation.
Prior to the wine industry, Lucchesi spent nine years in collegiate athletics. As the Director of Social Media for Oregon State University Athletics from 2016-2018, Lucchesi re-branded nearly 50 social media accounts and taught student-athletes personal branding. She was part of OSU’s ground-breaking Athletics Ideation Team, an innovative in-house creative agency that increased awareness about the Beavers’ brand, teams, student-athletes, and coaches. She also led a team of 15 interns and guided many of them into full-time positions after graduation.
From 2009-2016, Lucchesi was the Multimedia Director for the Mizzou Football. She launched a website for College Football Hall of Fame Coach Gary Pinkel. Staying ahead of industry trends, she launched numerous social media accounts for Mizzou Football, while promoting brand awareness for the team. She assisted in recruiting high school athletes, and she supervised a student work force.
Lucchesi also spent two years as an adjunct journalism professor at Mizzou while working for Mizzou Football. As a student, she spent four years as a multimedia reporter, anchor, and producer at KOMU 8.
Lucchesi is a 2009 and 2016 graduate of The University of Missouri with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and an executive master’s of business degree. While not teaching, you can likely find her running on the trail with her dog or at Ragtag Cinema catching up on movies.
Updated: January 12, 2026