ESTHER THORSON was named acting dean of the School in June 2007. She continues to serve as a professor of strategic communication. Prior to being named acting dean, Thorson was the associate dean for graduate studies and research and served as the director of research for the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute.
Thorson has published more than 100 scholarly pieces on news effects, advertising, media economics, and health communication, and she has edited six books. Thorson has headed grant and research contracts totaling nearly $3 million. She is the only female Fellow of the American Academy of Advertising. Thorson applies research, both hers and that of her colleagues, in newsrooms and advertising agencies across the United States and abroad. She serves on eight journal editorial boards.
Her research with colleague Margaret Duffy for the Newspaper Association of America has been presented in national forums throughout the United States. Other recent projects focus on internet advertising, the choice of news sources of the 18-34 demographic, the emotional effect of negative news photographs and the impact of the Internet on traditional media use for news.
Thorson has advised more than 35 doctoral dissertations, and her former students hold prestigious professorships throughout the United States and Asia. She is the recipient of the American Advertising Federation's Distinguished Advertising Education Award, the American Academy of Advertising's Outstanding Contribution to Research Award, a Mizzou Alumni Association Faculty Award and the Missouri Curator's Award for Scholarly Excellence.
