Patricia Stout Named Chair of the Moody College of Communication's Department of Advertising and Public Relations

AUSTIN, Texas – April 23, 2014 – Patricia Stout has been named chair of the Department of Advertising and Public Relations at The University of Texas at Austin Moody College of Communication. Stout will take the post vacated by Isabella Cunningham, who will return to teaching full-time in the department.

Stout joined the Department of Advertising and Public Relations as assistant professor in 1984 and has held the John P. McGovern Regents Professorship in Health and Medical Science Communication since 2002.

"I am delighted to work in this new role with the outstanding faculty, students and staff in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations, which is ranked consistently as one of the top three programs in the country," Stout said. "Under Isabella Cunningham's leadership during the past 12 years, the department has grown. Exciting things are happening in the Moody College of Communication, and the department is poised to continue to innovate and lead the way in advertising and public relations education."

Stout's research focuses on viewer response to persuasive messages and advertising, with particular attention to individuals' emotional response to advertising and health-promotion messages. Current projects examine the role of trust relevant to direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) for prescription medicine. Her work on media and mental illness stigma has been funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health.

Stout served as associate dean for academic affairs in Moody College from 1996-2001. She has also served as a co-director of the Center for Health Promotion Research (CHPR) in the School of Nursing at UT Austin and as the UT System Chancellor's Health Fellow in Health Care Ethics and Communications. She has been a visiting research professor at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, with the AIDS Information and Education Program, and a visiting professor at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. She has served as president of the American Academy of Advertising.

Stout received her Ph.D. in Communications from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

"Pat Stout brings a wonderful mixture of scholarly and administrative insights to her new job," said Moody College of Communication Dean Roderick P. Hart. "She enjoys the widespread respect of her colleagues in the Moody College and she cares about students deeply. I am confident that she will move her department to even greater heights."

About The University of Texas at Austin Moody College of Communication

One of the nation's foremost institutions for the study of advertising and public relations, communication sciences and disorders, communication studies, journalism and radio-TV-film, The University of Texas at Austin Moody College of Communication is preparing students to thrive in an era of media convergence. Serving more than 4,700 undergraduate and graduate students, Moody College is nationally recognized for its faculty members, research and student media. For more information about the Moody College of Communication, visit http://moody.utexas.edu.

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Contacts: Laura Byerley, (512) 471-2182.