Professor Sallot honored for top educator award

Much congratulations to Dr. Lynne Sallot, professor in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations, for being honored for the 2014 "Milestones in Mentoring" award by the Plank Center. Dr. Sallot has taught at UGA since 1993. She has been honored with several department, university, and national teaching awards for her excellent work in the classroom. "Dr. Sallot is has influenced thousands of students as a leading public relations professor," said Tom Reichert, head of UGA's AdPR department. "I can't think of anyone who has been recognized for her work in the classroom more than Dr. Sallot. She is very special."

Dr. Sallot will be honored October 30, 2014, in Chicago. She'll be introduced by Neil Hirsch, a former student of Dr. Sallot, current PRSA-Georgia president, and AdPR Executive Council member.

AdPR's Dr. Michael Cacciatore selected as Plank Center Educator Fellow

Congratulations to AdPR Assistant Professor

PR Assistant Professor
Dr. Michael Cacciatore

, Dr. Michael Cacciatore, who will travel to Edelman offices in Chicago for two to four weeks this summer. The experience is part of the University of Alabama’s Plank Center for Leadership in Public Relations Fellowship Program for Public Relations Educators. Dr. Cacciatore was one of ten educators selected for the Fellowship’s fifth class.

“Key beneficiaries of the fellowship are public relations students who can be assured their professors are knowledgeable in the current practices and issues facing practitioners and that practitioners have a greater appreciation for the value of theory and research of their classrooms in today’s public relations work,” said Rick White, chief communications officer for Wisconsin Energy Corp. and Plank Center board member.

The Plank Center’s mission is to bridge the gap between education and practice. The program seeks to combine academia with real-world experience, creating an exchange of information and ideas to enhance the professional development of both educators and the host organizations. The educators partake in research projects, training sessions and presentations, and assist with company projects.

Dr. Cacciatore teaches and researches public relations at UGA. He is beginning his second year in the AdPR department.

New Faculty Spotlight: Juan Meng

Juan Meng

What is your new position at Grady? What classes (if any) are you teaching this year? Assistant Professor in Public Relations at the Department of Advertising & Public Relations. I am teaching a PR Campaigns class and a PR Research class in this semester.

Past academic positions: Before joining Grady, I was Assistant Professor at the University of Dayton and Oklahoma State University, where I taught PR Principles, Writing, Management, Campaign courses and special topics in International PR and Social Media at both under- and graduate levels.  

What are your research interests and why? Are there any projects/publications you're working on that you can share a little about at this time? My current research focuses on the conceptualization and measurement of strategic leadership in public relations, the theory development in public relations leadership, the combined use of qualitative and quantitative methods to study participation in leadership development process from an international perspective, and multinational corporates’ reputation and knowledge management strategies in emerging markets. Currently, I am the co-principal investigator of a global public relations leadership research project  funded by the Plank Center for Leadership in Public Relations at the University of Alabama, IBM, and Heyman Associates. It is so wonderful to get the opportunity to work with a group of excellent public relations scholars in more than 19 countries and three regions. We have implemented a global survey and conducted multiple in-depth interviews with senior public relations and communication practitioners all over the world during the past six months. We are trying to organize a public relations leadership summit in early November in Chicago to share our results and findings to a diverse group of audience. This is going to be a really exciting event.

What are you most looking forward to while you're at Grady/UGA?

I love the atmosphere of being on UGA campus. I am really looking forward to working with a group of brilliant scholars here at Grady! I am also looking forward to working with our Grady students, helping them build up strong networks, and seeing them be successful!