Officers

Officers of the AEJMC Visual Communication Division

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DIVISION HEAD

Keith Greenwood is an associate professor at the Missouri School of Journalism. He teaches courses in journalism and photojournalism history, photography’s role in society, and research methods. His research interests include photojournalism history and the influences that determine depictions of subjects in photographs. Greenwood has served on the faculty at Michigan State University and the University of Oklahoma. He has received top-paper awards from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. Greenwood is the website administrator of the AEJMC History Division and previously served in that role for the organization’s Visual Communication.

E-mail address: greenwoodk@missouri.edu

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DIVISION VICE-HEAD

Dr. Yung Soo Kim is an associate professor at the School of Journalism & Media, University of Kentucky. He holds a PhD from Southern Illinois University–Carbondale and an MA from the University of Missouri–Columbia. As a former photojournalist, he worked for Pusan Ilbo Daily News in Pusan, Korea and for Korea Times Los Angeles. Kim's research and teaching interests include visual communication, international communication, and multimedia productions. Kim regularly presents his studies at conferences such as AEJMC and ICA. His recent articles appeared in Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, Visual Communication Quarterly, Newspaper Research Journal, and International Journal of Communication, among others. He was a research chair of the VisCom division and currently serves as an associate editor of the Visual Communication Quarterly. 

E-mail address: kim.s.eye@uky.edu

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DIVISION SECOND VICE-HEAD

Dr. Nan Li is an assistant professor in the Department of Life Sciences Communication at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her most recent research focuses on science communication and visual communication. She is particularly interested in how visual art, storytelling, and aesthetic emotions can shape public engagement with sciences. Her research has resulted in more than 30 peer-reviewed publications and garnered media attention from more than 20 domestic and international outlets, including Forbes and The Guardian. She has been awarded the faculty top-paper award from the AEJMC Visual Communication division. Before her current position, she was an assistant professor of agricultural communications at Texas Tech University and a postdoctoral fellow at the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania.

E-mail address: nan.li@wisc.edu

 

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SOUTHEAST COLLOQUIUM CHAIR

Dr. Shannon Zenner is an assistant professor of Communication Design at Elon University. She received her Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and has an M.A. from the University of Texas at Arlington. She has received both a student top-paper award and a faculty top-paper award from the AEJMC Visual Communication division. Her current research is centered around visual persuasion, particularly the intersection of visual communication and political advertising and design, such as typography in political campaigns. Before graduate school, she worked at a number of advertising agencies in the Dallas/Fort Worth market. Previous clients range from Bank of America and Bell Helicopter to Dairy Queen and Justin Boots. 

E-mail address: szenner@elon.edu

RESEARCH CHAIR

Dr. Lei "Tommy" Xie earned his doctorate in Journalism from Southern Illinois University Carbondale. He is an award-winning documentary photographer and educator who received awards and exhibit opportunities from the Society of Professional Journalists and the LensCulture/Nikonian International Photography Competition. He also served as a judge for the inaugural National Geographic/Fulbright Fellowship. Dr. Xie currently teaches photojournalism, multimedia journalism, and big data storytelling at Fairfield University. In 2020, he was awarded the David Donald Fellowship for Data Journalism by Investigative Reporters and Editors. A social scientist by training, his research focuses on AI-assisted pedagogy, the social construction of climate change, and textual analysis.

E-mail address: lxie@fairfield.edu

CONTESTS CO-CHAIR

Dr. Shane Epping is an assistant professor at the University of Wyoming's Communication and Journalism Department where he holds the Model Photojournalism Professorship. Before earning a PhD from the University of Missouri, he worked as a staff photographer at an institution of higher education for more than 10 years, as well as a freelance photojournalist for multiple publications including The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal. He has won several photography awards at the national and regional level, and been accepted to art exhibits in multiple states. He teaches courses in photojournalism, introductory photography, creative entrepreneurship, and qualitative methods. With an extensive background as a volunteer photographer at hospitals, he researches the intersection of visual communication and health care. Recent and pending publications have analyzed the documentation of HIV and COVID-19. 

E-mail address: sepping@uwyo.edu

CONTESTS CO-CHAIR

Chad Sherman is an Associate Professor of Graphic Design at Seton Hill University. He received his Ph.D. in 2011 from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. At Seton Hill University, he teaches graphic design and animation courses. He has worked professionally as a graphic designer, web designer and freelance photographer in the Pittsburgh area. In his free time he loves to read, cook, play baseball, and see live music. He is also passionate about service and has led student trips to Concord, NC, Jackson, MS, and Bonaire. He is currently a member of the American Institute of Graphic Arts and the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.

E-mail address: csherman2@setonhill.edu

 

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TEACHING & TEACHING CONTESTS CHAIR

Denise McGill is an associate professor of visual communications at the University of South Carolina. She earned her M.A. at Ohio University’s School of Visual Communication, and her bachelor's in photojournalism at the University of Missouri. She has been to 25 countries on assignment for newspapers and magazines. Currently, she works primarily on documentary films about the southern United States.

E-mail address: mcgilld@mailbox.sc.edu

TEACHING CO-CHAIR

Elizabeth A. Spencer, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Integrated Strategic Communication (ISC) in the College of Communication and Information (CI) at the University of Kentucky. Elizabeth holds degrees in communication, public relations, mass communication, and photography. She has taught communication and media courses since 2014. She currently teaches creative strategic communication, multimedia, and ethics courses for ISC. She advises and mentors ISC undergraduate and CI graduate students. Dr. Spencer’s research and creative scholarship examines visual communication, digital media, and communication of health issues and contexts. In addition to her teaching and scholarship, Elizabeth has almost a decade of professional experience in creative media production as well as leadership roles and public relations in healthcare and community organizations.

E-mail Address: liz.spencer@uky.edu

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LOGO CONTEST CHAIR

Dr. Tara Mortensen is an assistant professor at the University of South Carolina. She studies visual communication, media sociology, de-professionalization of visual journalism, amateur photography, and user-generated (visual) content. She has been published in most major visual communication journals (e.g. Visual Communication Quarterly, Visual Communication, Visual Studies, Photographies) as well as major journalism journals including Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, Journal of Mass Media Ethics, and Journalism Practice.

E-mail address: taram@sc.edu

 

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SOCIAL MEDIA CO-CHAIR

Enrique Núñez-Mussa is a Ph.D. student at Michigan State University's School of Journalism. He holds a BA in Social Communication with a major in Journalism from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (PUC) and an MA in Journalism, Media, and Globalization from Aarhus and Hamburg University. Additionally, he earned a certificate in Photojournalism from Aarhus University. Prior to his Ph.D. studies, he served as a full-time adjunct professor at PUC’s School of Journalism, advising student publications. He received the best-of-competition faculty creative award in the photojournalism category at the 2019 World Journalism Education Council conference. During his time at Michigan State University, he has been involved in teaching visual literacy and photojournalism classes. His research interests revolve around journalism's societal function and epistemology.

E-mail address: nunezmus@msu.edu

 

 

 

SOCIAL MEDIA CO-CHAIR

T.J. Mesyn is a Ph.D. student and instructor at Michigan State University’s School of Journalism. Creator, artist, and storyteller behind “Clinically (in)Significant” and “American Hurt: Vietnam Veteran Portraits & Perspectives”. Researching visual communication, visual literacy, history, and education.

E-mail address: wardtara@msu.edu

 

 

 

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NEWSLETTER EDITOR

Dr. Michael Vosburg is an assistant professor of Mass Communication at Benedict College. He has had a 33-year career in photojournalism and managed visual departments for 25 years at The Missourian (Columbia), The San Angelo (TX) Standard-Times, and The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead (ND). He holds a B.S. in mass communication, an M.A. in journalism from the Missouri School of Journalism, and a Ph.D. in communication from North Dakota State University. He teaches five photography courses, from web and social media photography to photojournalism. His primary research interest is in the media effects of photographs, a subject on which he also theorizes.

E-Mail address: michael.vosburg@benedict.edu

VISUAL COMMUNICATION QUARTERLY EDITOR

Lawrence Mullen is a professor at UNLV. His research and teaching focus on data visualization, quantitative and qualitative research methods, and the intersection of policy, leadership, and media studies. His work on course and program development and has added many new courses for units in the College of Urban Affairs.  Nationally and internationally recognized, his published research has explored the phenomena of visual communication in several settings, including the mediated portrayal of U.S. Presidents, emerging media stereotypes, and the nexus between community and visuality. His book, Las Vegas: Media and Myth, explores the impact the media have on the transient community of Las Vegas.

E-mail address: lawrence.mullen@unlv.edu

WEBSITE ADMINISTRATOR

Dr. Alex Scott is an assistant professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Iowa. His research investigates the meaning potential of images and the construction of social difference in non-fiction visual practices. His research is influenced by his previous career as a photojournalist, and he is particularly interested in the political, economic, and aesthetic currents that influence the production of news. He is a co-founder of the Visual Media Lab at Iowa, which explores the issues and opportunities produced by AI technology and synthetic media.

E-mail address: alex-scott@uiowa.edu

GRADUATE STUDENT LIAISON

Yimu Zhang is a Ph.D. student at University of Central Lancashire, UK. He is also a video producer working in Television and Advertising areas. The projects incorporate documentaries, TVC, short videos on social media platforms and other visual designs for street advertisements and exhibitions. Playing the guitars and taking photos/videos are part of his life. His research areas are visual communication, digital media and visual culture, especially in the fields of photographs and short videos.

E-mail address: YZhang150@uclan.ac.uk

PAST DIVISION HEADS

2023-2024 Shannon Zenner

2022-2023 Michael Fagans

2021-2022 Tara Mortensen

2019-2021 Gabriel Tait

2018-2019 Matt Haught

2017-2018 Julian Kilker

2015-2016 Bob Britten

2014-2015 Seth Gitner

2013-2014 Byung S. Lee

2012-2013 Bruce Thorson

2011-2012 Jeremy Gilbert

2010-2011 Jennifer George-Palilonis