Texas Media & Analytics Faculty
Lisa Dobias is an Associate Professor of Practice who has been teaching full-time at UT since 1996. She is founder and Director of Texas Media & Analytics, the department's cross-disciplinary program in advanced media studies designed to provide emphasis in the key areas of invention + ideation, interactive insights, and investments. Her passion is mentoring students, fostering them to become strong and ethical contributors to the various fields of communication.
In addition to teaching, Lisa continues her work as an independent communications consultant focusing primarily on local and regional non-profit organizations.
Lisa received the Texas Excellence Teaching Award for the College of Communication in 2002, 2009, and 2017. In addition, she was named the Outstanding Educator of the Year in Central Texas by the Austin Advertising Federation in both 2009 and 2016. Lisa was presented The Eyes of Texas Excellence Award in 2013, and has received UT system-wide recognition, being named the recipient of a 2010 Regents' Outstanding Teaching Award.
Prior to teaching, Lisa graduated summa cum laude from the University of Texas at Austin with concentrations in Marketing and German. Her industry experience is agency-side in client service and media. Her past client roster includes multi-national advertisers [McDonald's Children’s Charities, Procter & Gamble, Tropicana, Pillsbury, Green Giant, Kellogg, United Airlines], local retail advertisers [Melvin Simon & Associates] and high-tech, business-to-business advertisers [Motorola, Tivoli].
Natalie Brown-Devlin graduated with her Ph.D. in Mass Communication from the University of Alabama. After graduation, she joined Conversant Media where she worked as a Senior Analyst—and later—an Associate Director of Strategic Account Analytics. She served as the lead analyst and developed analytic solutions for a variety of client accounts, including Foot Locker, Staples, and Victoria’s Secret.
In 2016, she joined the Stan Richards School as an Assistant Professor and began teaching the digital metrics course in the TexasMedia sequence. Her passion is transforming students into data storytellers who embrace technology’s influence on media while still thinking critically about how such advancements impact society. Her course focuses on display, search, and social advertising, web analytics, data visualization, and issues of consumer privacy. She has also given invited talks on the subject of “digitizing the collegiate curriculum,” and “teaching digital analytics” to the Association for Education in Journalism & Mass Communication and the American Academy of Advertising.
Tracy Arrington was a member of the inaugural Texas Media experimental cohort, graduating from the program in 1997. She returned to UT as a Lecturer in the Stan Richards School of Advertising & Public Relations in the spring of 2014.
Tracy's marketing career has focused on strategy, planning, investments and operations, emphasizing a dynamic, data-driven approach to communication for many of the world's leading brands. Her expertise spans all media types and she is passionate about diversity in talent development, believing it is the key to innovation as distinct forms of media evolve and converge.
Tracy served as EVP/Media and Marketing Operations for Camp, a full-service advertising and content agency. Prior to joining Camp, she spent 12 years at GSD&M Advertising and another five years leading strategy and development at a boutique media firm in Austin. Her client list includes industry leaders in virtually every category, including AT&T, Bank of America, BMW, Dell, DreamWorks, MasterCard, Nike, Taco Bell, the Texas Lottery and Wal-Mart. Tracy's first book, 101 Things I Learned in Advertising School, was published by Penguin Random House New York in April of 2018.