Dr. Melissa Janoske Receives Inaugural Steve and Linda Simon Family Fellowship

May 15, 2018 - Dr. Melissa Janoske, assistant professor of public relations at the University of Memphis, was named the inaugural winner of the Steve and Linda Simon Family Fellowship.

The Simon Family Fellowship is the University's first fellowship dedicated to a public relations faculty member. It honors the late SSPR founder Steve Simon and is awarded to an outstanding early career public relations faculty member in the Department of Journalism and Strategic Media. The Simon Fellow may use the funds for key initiatives such as student public relations projects and initiatives, academic-related travel and professional development.

Janoske heads the public relations major and serves as assistant director of the department's graduate program.

"Since joining the department in 2014, she has made tireless, substantive and indispensable contributions as a teacher, a scholar, a colleague and campus citizen," said Dr. David Arant, chair of Journalism and Strategic Media. "Her dynamic leadership in the area of public relations goes well beyond her students in the department, as her influence extends to the University's presidential task force on communication, the city's network of public relations professionals, and the academic field's association of educators and researchers.

"In the four years Dr. Janoske has been a professor at UofM, she has transformed the public relations program curriculum and revitalized the program."

Janoske teaches a variety of courses, including several she has developed: Survey of Public Relations, Public Relations Writing, Mass Communication Theory, Crisis Communication, Advanced Crisis Communication and Advanced Social Media and Community Engagement. She acts as guide and encourager for her students, relating class material to real-world examples and helps students explore hypothetical scenarios.

Janoske earned her BA in organizational communication and a MA in Corporate and Professional Communication, both from Radford University in Virginia. She finished her PhD at the University of Maryland.

CONTACT

Chuck Gallina | 901.678.1756 l cgallina@memphis.edu