MEET THE
PROFESSORS
Full-Time Faculty
Part-Time Faculty
Meryl Blau, Lecturer
mblau@miami.edu Click here to learn more about Professor Blau
Meryl Blau received a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Miami International University of Art and a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Florida. She also spent some time studying at the Royal Academy of Art in London. Her teaching interests focus on portfolio development, art direction and conceptual thinking.
Before joining the School of Communication’s Advertising faculty in the fall of 2008, Blau worked as a creative director for Ronin Advertising Group, an art director for G2 (a division of Grey Advertising), and senior art director for MARC USA, Advertising.
Blau’s philosophy on executing great creative is to simultaneously think strategically and aesthetically, while always looking for the emotional appeal of the consumer. Blau encourages her students to explore various visual aspects to find unique solutions to each creative challenge. It is this philosophy that she passes down to her students by utilizing engaging and interactive methods to teach the art of visual communication. Blau also works with the student-run organization, Ad Group, as a mentor and faculty advisor.
Recently, Blau illustrated and authored a children’s book titled The Monkey Hunt which was published in the spring of 2009.
Heidi Carr, Lecturer
Heidi Carr comes to the School of Communication with 25 years of experience in the field as a newspaper editor. Most of her career was spent at The Miami Herald, where she handled a team of reporters covering breaking news, education, obituaries and features.She cut her teeth working as a copy editor at The Roanoke Times & World-News and The Lynchburg News & Daily Advance.
While at the Herald, Carr was also a member of the Knight-Ridder talent bank, and traveled to other newspapers to talk about finding and writing those "Hey, Martha" stories -- the ones that are so fun to read, you pass them on to other people to enjoy.
Carr earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from the College of William and Mary in Virginia, and a Master's of Science in journalism from Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism. It was there she began understanding the importance of understanding the public's needs, and making sure news outlets not only provided the information readers should know, but also stories about the people and places they would want to know.
Juliana Fernandes, Assistant Professor
Dr. Juliana Fernandes is a published scholar whose research interests include impact of affective advertising, international political communication, and social media and online communication. Her most recent study looks at the effects of negative political advertising and message repetition on candidate evaluation. Fernandes’ work has been published in a number of academic journals, including Mass Communication & Society, the American Journal of Media Psychology and American Behavioral Scientist.
William Hughes, Lecturer
W. P. Hughes earned an MFA from the Creative Writing Program at the University of Houston as a Cullen Fellow of Fiction. He began his career in advertising with DDB New York and has helped lead award-winning creative efforts for some of the world's most recognizable brands, most recently at SapientNitro and The Barbarian Group. Hughes brings a passion for digital advertising, strategic analysis, creative discipline, and rigorous workshop methods to the classroom. Prior to entering the industry, he published fiction and nonfiction, served as the founding editor of a Brooklyn literary journal, and taught at the City University of New York.
Alyse Lancaster, Department Chair, Associate Professor
Alyse Lancaster received her Ph.D. in Mass Communication from the University of Florida. Her research focuses on three areas. The first area is health communication, concentrating on how the mass media can be used effectively to promote healthy behaviors and to discourage unhealthy behaviors such as drunk driving, illicit drug use, and unsafe sex among college students. Her second research area centers on the economics and effectiveness of tobacco advertising, as well as the impact of anti-smoking campaigns. Her third research area deals with issues in advertising media planning, particularly on how various media are used to reach specified target audiences and how different research methods are used to forecast advertising effects.
Dr. Lancaster’s work has been published in several scholarly journals, including The Journal of Advertising, The International Journal of Advertising, Mass Communication & Society, The Journal of Consumer Affairs, Health Marketing Quarterly, and The Howard Journal of Communications, among others. She also co-authored two book chapters in Sexual Teens, Sexual Media (Lawrence Erlbaum & Associates, 2001).
Cong Li, Assistant Professor
Dr. Li joined the School of Communication in the fall of 2008 as an assistant professor in advertising. He teaches advertising, marketing, and communication courses at both the undergraduate and graduate level. His research interests lie in applying theoretical perspectives from online communication and cultural psychology to the study of advertising and marketing messages, particularly as they inform cognition, affect, and behavior. He has published in a number of scholarly journals inside and outside the communication discipline, including Media Psychology, Computers in Human Behavior, CyberPsychology & Behavior, International Journal of Advertising, Journal of Consumer Behaviour, Mass Communication and Society, Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, Asian Journal of Communication, and others. He also has won the top paper award at national advertising and communication conferences five times. Dr. Li received his Ph.D. in mass communication from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He also holds a master’s degree in mass communication from Kansas State University and an M.B.A. in international business from the University of Miami. Before coming to the U.S., he worked as a reporter at Radio Shanghai in China for over four years. His reports won several local and national awards.
Sarai Nunez, Lecturer
s.nunez1@miami.edu Click here to learn more about Professor Nunez
Professor Sarai (pronounced Sara-ee) Nuñez (pronounced Nuh-yes) hails from the small Central American country of Honduras. She spent most of her childhood there before moving to Miami and calling it home. Her undergraduate degree, as well as her Master degree brought her to the cold, unfamiliar climates of Boston where she received a Bachelor of Science in Advertising (COM '02) and a Master in Fine Arts in Graphic Design (CFA '05) from Boston University. During and after completing her studies she worked in various projects ranging from big to small agencies and clients.
Her list of clients include P&G Beauty, Oster, Subway, Six Flags, Sandals, and Nissan, among others. Her dream was to one day see her work displayed in Times Square. Once that goal was accomplished she decided to move on to the more challenging role of educator and mentor. She specializes in graphic design, typography and art direction courses.
Her passion has lead her to teach at Miami Ad School, Miami International University of Art and Design, and the University of Miami in the Advertising Creative track. Her hope is to one day be the inspiration to her students that her teachers once were. When she's not obsessing about typefaces, she likes to pursue her other passions, which include photography and collecting KidRobot toys.
Maria Elles Scott, Lecturer
m.scott2@miami.edu Click here to learn more about Dr. Scott
Maria Elles Scott moved into the role as an educator after spending more than a decade as a practicing journalist and publicist within the sports community. Scott’s desire to mentor interns, build educational programs and serve as an ambassador to universities was the beginning of her career change. Since 2006, Scott has been serving the students at the University of Miami through her role as an adjunct professor in the School of Education and a lecturer in the School of Communication.
Before making the transition, Scott served as the Associate Director of Communications for the South Florida Super Bowl XLI Host Committee. Scott began her career working as a journalist for four years before joining the Super Bowl Task Force for Super Bowl XXXV in Tampa. In 2001, she joined the ESPN Original Entertainment team as the Manager for Event Publicity and Community Outreach. Upon her return to Florida, Scott worked for the Sony Ericsson Open as Communications Manager.
Scott has a doctorate from the United States Sports Academy in Sports Management with her research base in Sports Media. She received her bachelor’s degree in Public Relations from the University of Florida and her master’s degree in Sport Administration from West Chester University (Pa.). As a journalist, Scott has worked for The Tampa Tribune and the Journal Register Company, specifically the Daily Local News (Pa.). During her time with ESPN, Scott worked in Philadelphia on the X Games, Aspen (Co.) on the Winter X Games, San Antonio on X Games Global Championship and in Los Angeles on the X Games, Action Sports and Music Awards and ESPY Awards.
Colee Splichal, Assistant Professor, Professor of Practice
colee@miami.edu Click here to learn more about Dr. Splichal
Colee Splichal's teaching focus is central to the daily practice of public relations: conducting secondary and primary research, analyzing and synthesizing findings, planning strategically, writing and editing. Her students engage in hands-on projects for diverse nonprofit clients in the community and on campus, helping raise awareness and interest and improve communications.
Splichal holds a Ph.D. in higher education leadership from the University of Miami, a master's degree in journalism and communication from the University of Florida and a bachelor's degree in journalism from West Virginia University. She served on the communication faculty at Virginia Tech for four years and also taught at the University of Florida. Her newspaper experience includes stints at The Macon Telegraph & World-News (Ga.), The Clearwater Sun (Fla.), The Roanoke Times & World-News (Va., in news and promotion), The Gainesville Sun (Fla.), and The Miami Herald. She also worked in constituent relations for three congressmen in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Before joining the School of Communication in fall 2005, Splichal directed communication projects for UM's Office of the Vice President for Enrollment Management and Continuing & International Education.
Randy Stano, Assistant Professor, Professor of Practice
Randy Stano holds an Master of Arts degree from Syracuse University and was the Knight Foundation Chair for the School of Communication from 1995-2008. He was director of editorial art and design for The Miami Herald, he has served on two Pulitzer Prize-winning teams and is the recipient of commendations from the Society of News Design (including directing Best of Show Honors in 1993 which was cited in 2005 as the 10th Moment in visual coverage from SND for their "25 Influential Moments in News Design), National Headliners Club, Print, and the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors.
Stano served as director of editorial art and design at the Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, N.Y.) and assistant art director at the Kansas City Times and Star. He is a former Texas high school journalism teacher of the year and National Journalism Teacher of the Year, from the Newspaper Fund and The Wall Street Journal. He was a past Society for News Design president and held several committee chairs within the organization.
He has recently completed the redesigns of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the Prague Post (Czech Republic), La Nación (San Jose, Costa Rica), The Star (Shelby, N.C.), Daily News (Jacksonville, N.C.) and Fort Bend Herald (Richmond-Rosenberg, Texas). Stano has done numerous training sessions for the Poynter Media Institute and the Southern Newspaper Publishers Association, in addition to individual sessions at the Austin American-Statesman, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Kansas City Star, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Dallas Morning News, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Orange County Register, El Mundo, and numerous in or around Spain.
Stano is the editorial adviser to the Ibis, the UM Pacemaker and Crown winning student yearbook, and the recently created student general interest magazine, Distraction. He is a frequent guest speaker for the Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA), Associated Collegiate Press and College Media Advisers organization. He is a Colonel Joseph M. Murphy award winner from CSPA for service to scholastic media, "Texas Legend in Journalism" from the Interscholastic League Press Association/University of Texas at Austin and "One of 75," Most Influential People in Scholastic Journalism in the past 75 years from CSPA/Columbia University.
Stano likes to travel and spend time with his beagle Shooter and basset hound Reggie. He has taken students abroad to the Czech Republic, Germany and Spain for the past 15 years over spring break or during summer study abroad programs.
Don Stacks, Professor
don.stacks@miami.edu Click here to learn more about Dr. Stacks
Dr. Stacks received his Ph.D. in communication studies from the University of Florida. He has earned numerous academic and professional awards for teaching and research. At the University of Miami his awards include "Professor of the Year" and "Provost's Award for Scholarly Activity." His professional recognitions include the three highest awards an academic can get from the public relations profession: the "Pathfinder Award" for programmatic research, the "Jackson Jackson and Wagner Award" for applied research, and the Public Relations Society of America's "Educator of the Year" award. He was also named as a "Measurement Maven" byThe Measurement Standard. In addition, Dr. Stacks was recently inducted into the first Research Fellows of the Institute for Public Relations, was elected an Eastern Communication Association Research Fellow in 2007 and most recently elected as an Eastern Communication Association Teaching Fellow in 2008, both awards are based on life-time accomplishments in communication.
Dr. Stacks’ background is based primarily in corporate/governmental public relations and consulting. He has authored and edited numerous books, book chapters, and articles. His most recent works are in the area of public relations measurement and evaluation and include the Primer of Public Relations Research (Guilford Press, now in its second edition) and the Dictionary of Public Relations Measurement and Research, which has been translated into several languages.
Dr. Stacks serves on a number of academic and professional review boards. He is a Trustee for the Institute for Public Relations, an elected member of the International Public Relations Association, and chairs the Association for Education in Journalism & Mass Communication’s (AEJMC) Elected Standing Committee on Research and serves on the AEJMC Board of Directions. In addition, he is a member of the national Commission on Public Relations Measurement and Evaluation and former research chair for the Commission on Public Relations Education. He currently directs the nation's largest public relations research conference, the International Public Relations Research Conference. He serves as a senior advisor to Echo Research, an international public relations/corporate communications research company and has consulted for top Fortune companies in matters ranging from communication audits to crisis management to marketing research.
Dr. Stacks' research interests include crisis management, public relations theory and methodology, nonverbal communication, persuasion, intercultural communication, listening in the corporate environment, and biosocial/neurocommunication research.
Donn James Tilson, Associate Professor
Dr. Tilson holds a Ph.D. from Stirling University in Scotland. He is an accredited member of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA). He has served as a public relations manager for BellSouth and as past president and national assembly delegate of the Miami chapter of PRSA and 2005 national chair of PRSA's International Professional Interest Section. Presently, he serves on the national board of governors for the Religion Communicators Council.
In 1998, he was inducted into PRSA's College of Fellows, a "hall of fame" for practitioners and educators who "have demonstrated superior capability, exhibited personal and professional qualities as a role model, and advanced the state of the profession." Since the inception of the College in 1988, less than two percent of PRSA's almost 20,000 members have been so honored. In 2008, he received the Bill Adams PRSA Lifetime Achievement Award (Miami Chapter Public Relations Society of America) for “exceptional leadership and contributions to the profession, community and education.” The University of Miami presented him its Excellence in Teaching Award in 2005.
His research interests include international corporate public relations, particularly in Latin America and Europe, and religion and communication. His work has appeared in journals in London, Madrid, and South Africa. He has served as a Visiting Scholar at the Universidad Complutense in Madrid and the Universidades Industrial and Autonoma in Barcelona. His book, Toward the Common Good: Perspectives in International Public Relations (Allyn & Bacon), one of the few books on the subject, was published in October 2004.
Wanhsiu Sunny Tsai, Assistant Professor
Dr. Wan-Hsiu Sunny Tsai, whose research focus embraces International Advertising, Cross-Cultural Consumer Behavior, Popular Culture Studies, Critical Media Studies, and Gender and Sexuality Studies, joined the faculty of the Advertising program in the fall of 2007 as an Assistant Professor. Tsai’s current research projects include the effect of acculturation and minority identity on ethnic consumers’ response to targeted advertising, and Chinese women’s response to Dove’s Asian Campaign for Real Beauty.
Dr. Tsai has taught Marketing Management and Promotional Strategies at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. She holds the Ph.D. in Advertising from the University of Texas at Austin.
Serge Castagna
Serge Castagna is an adjunct professor in the School of Communication. He teaches Creative Strategies and Execution in the evenings. His day job is being an associate creative director at Alma DDB in Miami. Castagna works on accounts such as McDonald's, BBVA Compass, Florida Blue, Glad and many more. Before Alma, he worked at several other local agencies; his past clients list consists of, Ford, General Motors, Chevy, GMC, American Airlines, SC Johnson, Sprint, Nextel, Florida Power and Light (FPL), UHealth (University of Miami Health Systems) and others. He's been a Mad Man for about 15 years.
Stephanie Jimenez Castaner
Stephanie Jimenez Castaner is a Miami-based, integrated marketing communications consultant. Castaner has more than 10 years of experience, providing counsel to national, multinational and international brands from both the public and private sectors.
A Miami native and currently serving as an adjunct professor for the University of Miami’s School of Communication, lecturing on tourism and the public relations industry, Castaner is a summa cum laude graduate of the University of Miami’s School of Communication, where she obtained a M.A. in public relations and a B.A. in broadcasting and journalism.
Prior to working as a consultant, Castaner formed part of the regional headquarters leadership team for Latin America at Burson-Marsteller. In her role, she worked alongside the region’s CEO and COO, leading regional new business development, research and marketing initiatives. Stephanie also served as the liaison between the agency’s 15 offices throughout the region and their global new business and marketing teams.
Castaner joined B-M in 2008, serving as an integral member of the agency’s tourism and investment promotion practice. In 2010, she led the Mexico Tourism Board account; managing all budgets and serving as the primary client contact. Additionally, Castaner developed key relationships with clients including the Costa Rica Tourism Board, the Uruguayan Ministry of Tourism, the US-Mexico Chamber of Commerce, the International Monetary Fund and the Inter-American Development Bank. Castaner was also a staff member of Fleishman-Hillard’s Miami office, where she developed and executed several multidisciplinary U.S. Hispanic campaigns for high-profile consumer brands such as CoverGirl and Pantene.
Larry Clark
Larry Clark is a no-nonsense communicator, having guided top Fortune CEOs, marketers and leaders of many organizations to successful strategies and solutions. His MBA in finance and marketing enables him to provide counsel from an experienced business perspective. A lifetime of written communications, ranging from newspaper journalism and editing to traditional business publications and presentations to analytic crisis strategies, has positioned Larry to offer sound and practical solutions.
Social media and Internet development, including design origination and content management, allows Clark to provide clients with relevant and always current guidance.
His crisis public relations acumen resulted in the approval of offshore drilling in New England waters; successful defense of a nuclear pump manufacturer in Congress; helping defeat a raider's greenmail attempt; and fending off the worst of negative coverage of a foundation assaulted by political and competitive interests. He is the founding president of BioFlorida, the state's biotechnology trade association, a partner in the communications firm 3Guys Communications, and an adjunct professor teaching public relations management and writing at UM and writing strategies and grammar at FIU.
Kent M. Lancaster
Kent M. Lancaster is President of Global Media Research, Inc., Miami, Florida, which he founded in 2000 and which provides a variety of media research, consulting and planning services and software for the advertising and litigation support industries. In addition to these responsibilities, throughout the past 14 years, Dr. Lancaster has been an adjunct professor of advertising at the University of Miami, and a visiting professor of advertising and public relations at Florida International University. Prior to that, Dr. Lancaster was a professor of advertising in the College of Journalism and Communications at the University of Florida for 12 years, and at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for 10 years. His Ph.D. in mass media and Master’s in advertising are from Michigan State University.
Dr. Lancaster’s research focuses on advertising media planning and on the economics of advertising. He has published more than 70 research reports on these subjects, including articles in The Journal of Business, Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, Journal of Advertising, Journal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising, Journal of International Advertising, Journal of Advertising Research, Journal of Advertising History, Journal of Consumer Affairs, Journalism Quarterly, Journal of Marketing Education, Journal of Media Planning, and Journalism Educator, among others. He is co-author of Strategic Media Planning (NTC Business Books).
While teaching Ph.D., master’s and undergraduate students and conducting research at various universities Dr. Lancaster also has been an associate of Telmar Information Services Corp. for 20 years, currently serving as research & development director – audience analytics. Telmar is the world’s leading supplier of software solutions and information services for the advertising and media industries and serves over 10,000 users at many leading advertising agencies, publishers, broadcasters and advertisers in 85 countries.
Olga Martinez
A former teacher and current high school administrator, Olga M. Martinez is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Miami School of Communication, where she has been teaching graphic design and advertising design, since 2008. Martinez graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Miami, with a Bachelor of Science in Communications, double-majoring in Advertising and Graphic Design, in 2003, and, in 2005, she completed her Master of Arts in Communication Studies. In 2009, Martinez launched O.riginals: Design & Stationery – a boutique custom gift studio, specializing in personalized products that feature a custom illustration intended to resemble the recipient of the gift. As Creative Director of O.riginals: Design & Stationery, Martinez is primarily responsible for the design of all illustrations and layouts. She also spearheads all efforts regarding branding, marketing, product development and quality-control. With a keen eye for detail and a strong pulse on the market, Martinez inspires excellence in all creative work, crafting custom/personalized products that advance the brand. She enjoys her part-time position at the University of Miami, and admits it helps to keep her current on graphic design trends and applications.
Jasper Nelissen
A member of Conill Saatchi & Saatchi’s senior leadership team, Jasper Nelissen is responsible for the operations of the agency’s Miami office. A leader with a penchant for unleashing the potential of people, Nelissen works across the office’s business portfolio to ensure best-in-class work, strategy and services for clients that include Procter & Gamble and Aflac, among others. Under his leadership since 2010, Conill’s Miami office has accelerated its growth, added several brands to its roster and has earned national creative and effectiveness awards.
Prior to joining Conill, Nelissen served as director of global reinvention for Conill’s parent organization, Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide. In that role he helped design the network’s signature process of working and developed transformation programs to raise productivity, while igniting creativity. He has trained and developed Saatchi personnel across Europe, Asia and the United States. Nelissen has also managed organizational change in a number of key markets.
Before embarking on his agency career, Nelissen was a project manager for a consulting firm in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Nelissen holds an MSc from Delft University of Technology, and an MBA from Cambridge University, where he remains actively involved with the Judge Business School as an elected member of the school's Alumni Advisory Council.
Rafael Ramirez
Rafael Ramirez leads the creative teams in Conill Saatchi & Saatchi’s Miami office, setting the tone and direction of work across the agency’s client portfolio.
Ramirez began my creative journey in 1992 as an intern at Leo Burnett, working for P&G and Kellogg’s. A year later joined McCann Erickson as a Copywriter, eventually becoming the youngest Group Creative Director for the network in the region. During his tenure, he spearheaded creative efforts for local accounts like Bimbo Bakeries, Marinela and Cervecería Cuauhtemoc Moctezuma, as well as multinational accounts, such as Coca-Cola, Citibank, Colgate, Hewlett-Packard and Mennen, among others.
In 2000, he came to the United States to join SiboneyUSA, where he worked on U.S. Hispanic market businesses for McDonald's, Nestlé, Safeway, Sony, Time Warner, JCP and P&G. Before joining Conill in 2010, Ramirez held ECD posts at several other shops, during which time he was responsible for the re-launch of the Sony Reader Digital Book, with an integrated campaign that had over 2 million one-on-one personal demonstrations, 100,000 on-line trials, and a social cause that donated 15 million digital books to 150,000 schools in the U.S.
His work has been recognized at several local and international creative awards shows, including Cannes, CLIO, FIAP, Effies, New York Festivals, ADDY’s, WAVE, Mercury Awards and Festival of Media, among others. He is also an adjunct professor at University of Miami, teaching Advertising Copywritng & Concept.
Whitney Sessa
Whitney Sessa is a third-year Ph.D. student in the University of Miami's School of Communication. Prior to beginning doctoral studies at UM, Sessa worked as a reporter for the Miami Herald and as a communications coordinator for Barry University. Sessa, whose research focuses on higher education public relations and social media efforts, continues to work for Barry as a web/social media writer. Her dissertation, titled "Social Media and the College Search," will survey college freshmen about their social media habits and preferences during the college search process. Sessa is expected to graduate with a Ph.D. in communications in December 2014.
Margot Winick
Margot S. Winick has worked on both sides of the media for more than a decade. Since 2000, she has worked in the leadership of the central communications office of the University of Miami, handling all aspects of media relations, multimedia communications and social media. Since 2007, she has taught as an adjunct professor in the Strategic Communications program at the UM School of Communication, where she got her degree in broadcasting. Before joining UM, Winick worked at The Miami Herald beginning in the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew, for which she served on the staff that won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service, and then for Susan Brustman & Associates Public Relations, where she promoted local hotels, restaurants and cultural events. Additionally, she is a contributor to the Beatle Brunch Radio Show website. She is a voice-over actor, appearing in projects from commercials to documentary films.
