Grady College welcomes four new faculty for start of 2018-19 academic year

Grady College is pleased to welcome four new faculty members to its team starting in the 2018-19 academic year.

Amanda Bright joins Grady College as an academic professional in the Department of Journalism and will be working closely with Newsource and its digital communications, including the launch of a new website this fall.

Bright has an extensive background in journalism and digital communications. Over the past several years, she has worked as a journalist, photographer, editor and designer for a variety of newspapers, newsletters and online publications. Most recently, she was the media content coordinator for Indiana State Online, managing all of the social media accounts for the Indiana college including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and designing digital news publications for students and faculty. While at Indiana State, she earned a Ph.D., focusing on post-secondary education with a media/journalism emphasis. Bright has also served as education editor for MediaShift, writing content for online and digital newsletters, and as assistant editor for Innocent Words Magazine, a magazine and record label based in Oakwood, Illinois.

Bright has served as a journalism instructor, most recently at Eastern Illinois University, and a yearbook advisor. Bright served as the social media director and website co-administrator for the Illinois Journalism Education Association for the last four years. In addition to her doctorate degree, Bright holds a master’s degree in English from Eastern Illinois University and a bachelor of science degree in news-editorial journalism from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Alexander Pfeuffer joins the Department of Advertising and Public Relations as an assistant professor of advertising. He will teach AdPR research, and advertising and communication management.

Pfeuffer has recently earned a doctorate degree in mass communication from the University of Minnesota. His dissertation studied the impact of sponsorship disclosure in electronic communication. While at the University of Minnesota, he was a teaching assistant for a variety of classes including information for mass communication, media planning, and advertising and society. He also served as a research assistant for Jisu Huh (MA ’00, PhD ‘03). He was the recipient of the Ralph D. Casey Dissertation Research Award in 2017.

Pfeuffer has spent time teaching abroad, as well, teaching English and communication at the Julius-Maximilians-Universitat in Wurzburg, Germany.

In addition to his studies at the University of Minnesota, Pfeuffer has a master’s degree of communication management from the Annenberg School for Journalism and Communication from the University of Southern California and a bachelor of arts degree in communication from George Mason University.

Glenna Read joins AdPR as an assistant professor of advertising teaching media strategy.

Read comes to Grady College from Indiana University where she earned a doctorate in mass communication. She has a minor from IU in psychology and her dissertation was a blend of both areas of study focusing on social identity in advertising.

While at IU, Read taught courses in programming strategies and creative advertising.

Her research has focused on the effects of video games and violence, gender ambiguity in advertisements and facial electromyography, among other subjects. She won the Best Research Paper recognition for a graduate student in 2018.

Read has a master’s degree in experimental psychology from Appalachian State University and a bachelor of arts degree in psychology from Georgia State University.

Sabriya Rice assumes the role of Knight Chair for Health and Medical Journalism directing this respected graduate program.

Rice has spent more than 15 years as a reporter covering health care, science and medicine. For the past two years, she has worked as the business of healthcare reporter for the Dallas Morning News, writing about trends in the health care industry. She also served as the quality and safety reporter for Modern Healthcare Magazine for two years, focusing on topics of quality and safety. Visual storytelling and graphics are important aspects of her multi-media features.

In addition to reporting, Rice has been a director of media relations for the American Cancer Society and a writer/producer for CNN, working with CNNHealth.com, Sanjay Gupta and Elizabeth Cohen. Her focus on healthcare storytelling began with a three-year job as producer and on-air reporter for Quest Network Blue Zones, a project in Greece and Costa Rica telling stories of longevity and high life expectancy.

Rice is on the board of the Association of Health Care Journalists and is the recipient of several fellowships including the MayoClinic-Walter Cronkite Medical Journalism Fellowship awarded this past May.

Rice has a bachelor of arts degree in film and television from the University of Notre Dame and a master’s degree in communication studies from the University of Miami.