Advertising Department Changes, Gains and Growth Reported

"The Advertising Department of the University of Texas at Austin has just completed some of the most successful semesters in our 31 year history", said Professor Isabella Cunningham, Chair of the Department of Advertising as she looked at the results of the year to date.

The number of enrollment applications for the Department's graduate MA program has increased 25% over the last 5 years while enrollment in the program over the same period has essentially doubled. This year the graduate students received more than $115,000 of scholarship and fellowship support. Professor Cunningham reported that the Department now has more than 1000 undergraduate majors in advertising and public relations - perhaps the largest such department in the country.

Recognition has come to each of the specializations within the Department. The Texas Creative Program's reputation has never been stronger. In total, there were well over 50 awards and accolades that Texas Creative has collected this spring. Our students in the Program recently dominated the Student Addy Competition at the Advertising Federation Meeting in San Antonio and went on to win National Addys in New York City.

Media Planning students have been awarded the John Mack Media Scholarship with the ceremony taking place with Chancellor Yudolf at the Bauer House. The Brand Planning team from the Department successfully completed an assignment from the newly constituted Texas Student Media and the Joint Team formed by the Radio, Television and Film and the Advertising Department were finalists in the NASA Means Business Competition and presented their work at Kennedy Space Flight Center in Florida.

The award-winning faculty continues to come home with best paper recognition and dominates the theoretical backgrounding of contemporary advertising. At the same time Professors Jerome Williams and Geraldine Henderson, recent additions to the Department's faculty, have made significant contributions to National minority programs and received increased funding for their research. Professor Cunningham added "Continuing the Texas tradition of providing key faculty and mentors at institutions throughout the world we are sad to report that Associate Professor Deborah Morrison has accepted a position with University of Oregon and Assistant Professor Glenn Griffin has joined the faculty of SMU in Dallas; we wish them well in their new positions."

7/13/2005