People

Dawna Ballard, associate professor in the Department of Communication Studies, is an expert in chronemics—the study of time as it is bound to human communication. She researches what drives our pace of life and its impact on the communication practices and longterm vitality of organizations, communities, and individuals.

Joshua Barbour, assistant professor in the Department of Communication Studies, studies the confluence of the macromorphic and communicative in organizational life. He focuses on the difficult conversations that professionals have in the conduct of their work.

Mary Bock, assistant professor in the School of Journalism, is a former journalist turned academic with an interest in the sociology of photographic practice, the rhetorical relationship between words and images, and digital media.

Natalie Brown Devlin, assistant professor in Stan Richard School of Advertising and Public Relations, researches crisis communication and digital media in the context of sport. Her work examines how social media empowers organizational stakeholders during sports-related crises.

Barry Brummett, professor in the Department of Communication Studies, maintains research interests are in the rhetoric of popular culture. He has developed a general theoretical basis for understanding this rhetoric based largely on symbolic forms.

Angeline Close Scheinbaum, associate professor in the Stan Richard School of Advertising and Public Relations, develops theory-based models of branding and consumer behavior in contexts of event marketing and electronic marketing. Her research stream is grounded in a deep interest in explaining and predicting linkages among consumer attitude, affect, cognition, behavioral intent, and consumer behavior.

Joel Lulla, J.D., lecturer in the Stan Richard School of Advertising and Public Relations, has been engaged in the sports media industry for over 30 years, working for ABC Sports, IMG and, most recently, as a consultant, providing media rights assessment and negotiation services. A number of Lulla’s clients have been involved in the intercollegiate sports media space including The Fiesta Bowl, the Big 12 Conference, WAC, Sun Belt, University of Nebraska athletic department, University of Texas athletic department and Boise State University. Mr. Lulla is also an Adjunct Professor at the University of Texas School of Law.

Jennifer McClearen, lecturer in the Department of Radio-Television-Film, is a feminist media scholar who's work examines the cultural production of difference in contemporary society with an emphasis on the mediation of gender, race, and sexuality. She researches how intersecting subjectivities are written onto active female bodies in popular media such as action films or sports.

Kathleen McElroy, senior lecturer in School of Journalism, received her Ph.D. from the School of Journalism in December 2014, after nearly 30 years as a professional journalist. At The New York Times, she held various management positions, including associate managing editor, dining editor, deputy sports editor and deputy editor of the website. She previously worked for The National, an all-sports daily, as well as Long Island's Newsday and the Austin American-Statesman.

Alisa Perren, associate professor in the Department of Radio-Television-Film, maintains research and teaching interests include television studies, media industry studies, US film and television history, and media convergence. She is the organizer of RTF's Media Industry Conversations, a speakers series through which industry professionals discuss today’s evolving media landscape.

Kevin Robbins, senior lecturer in the School of Journalism, joined the journalism faculty in 2012 after 22 years in daily newspapers including stints at The (Memphis, Tenn.) Commercial Appeal, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the Austin American-Statesman. His biography on the legendary golf instructor, "Harvey Penick: The Life and Wisdom of the Man Who Wrote the Book on Golf,” was published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in 2016.

Jeff Treem, assistant professor in the Department of Communication Studies, studies the relationship between technology use and social perceptions of expertise, primarily in organizational contexts. This research explores how communication technologies facilitate recurrent, interactive practices that affect attributions of knowledge individuals make regarding coworkers.

S. Craig Watkins, professor in the Department of Radio-Television-Film, studies young people's social and digital media behaviors. His forthcoming book is based on an ethnographic inquiry into the evolving worlds of digital media, education, and social inequality in the U.S.

Steve Wille, lecturer in the Stan Richard School of Advertising and Public Relations, engages in bridging the gap between academic exploration and real time, professional sports communications practices. Wille led agency strategy for Bank of America, Coors and the PGA Tour, among others. Working at the iconic golf course Pebble Beach, Wille headed the marketing and organization of two US Opens, nine PGA Tour events as well as international professional tennis and classic car events.

Tracy Dahlby joined the faculty as professor and holder of the Frank A. Bennack, Jr. Chair in Journalism in 2006 after a career mainly spent in international reporting. His interests at the University of Texas at Austin include examining the changing roles of both foreign reporting and journalistic storytelling in a time of digital revolution, and in helping students cope with and benefit from such changes.
Dahlby’s latest book is “Into the Field: A Foreign Correspondent’s Notebook,” a memoir of long-distance reporting published by the University of Texas Press in October 2014. He is currently collaborating with fellow faculty member Eli Reed on “The Symphony of Frank” (working title), a documentary film.