Meet the people behind the Brand Hub.
Jason Chambers
Jason P. Chambers is an associate professor in the Department of Advertising at the University of Illinois. A graduate of The Ohio State University, his work has been published in books and journals in the United States, Asia, and Europe. His published books include Madison Avenue and the Color Line: African Americans in the Advertising Industry and Building the Black Metropolis: African Entrepreneurship in Chicago . He is currently writing a book length biography of advertising legend Tom Burrell. Dr. Chambers’s opinions on diversity in adverting and multicultural marketing have been sought by a variety of media sources including Advertising Age, Adweek, the British Broadcasting Corporation, Forbes, Black Enterprise, The History Channel, the New York Times, National Public Radio, and USA Today.
jpchambe@illinois.edu
Jacob Fisher
Jacob (Ph.D., Communication, UC Santa Barbara) is an assistant professor in the Charles H. Sandage Department of Advertising in the College of Media at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and an affiliate of the Illinois Informatics Program. His research lies at the intersection of cognitive neuroscience and media psychology, using brain imaging, behavioral, and digital trace data to investigate how media influence how we direct our attention and pursue our goals.
jtfisher@illinois.edu
Terry Kasdan
After receiving both his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Advertising from the University of Illinois, Terry Kasdan co-founded award-winning Web development and digital marketing agency atCommunications, LLC. Since 1999 Terry’s firm has had the privilege to work for clients spanning a broad spectrum of industries and issues. In addition to serving on the Department of Advertising’s James Webb Young professional advisory board, Terry also teaches Advertising 409: Media Entrepreneurship.
tkasdan@illinois.edu
Ewa Masłowska
Ewa Masłowska is an Assistant Professor in the Charles H. Sandage Department of Advertising. Ewa’s research centers around marketing communication, technology, and consumer engagement. Specifically, she investigates the effectiveness and mechanisms behind personalized advertising and microtargeting. Ewa also conducts research into the role of online reviews in consumer decision making, including sponsored and fake reviews. In her research, she often takes a data-driven approach, but she also uses survey, experimental and psychophysiological methods.
Ewa earned her Ph.D. in Communication Science from University of Amsterdam. She completed a postdoc with the Medill IMC Spiegel Digital & Database Research Center at Northwestern University and worked as an Assistant Professor in the Amsterdam School of Communication Research. Ewa has been published in International Journal of Advertising, Journal of Marketing Management, Decision Support Systems, and others. She is on the Editorial Review Boards of the International Journal of Advertising and the Journal of Interactive Advertising.
ehm@illinois.edu
Shachar Meron
Shachar Meron is a Sr. Lecturer in the Charles H. Sandage Department of Advertising at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, where he teaches campaigns, strategy and copywriting. He is also Academic Director of Illinois’ MS Strategic Brand Communication program, an online Masters program designed for working professionals.
Shachar is also a partner at Bluegreen Branding, where he bridges the worlds of brand strategy and creative ideation to help business leaders shape their vision and launch campaigns. Over his 20-year career he has worked on 100+ brands with a focus on B2B, tech, financial, and communications.
meron@illinois.edu
Marisa Peacock
Marisa Peacock is a full time lecturer in the Charles H. Sandage Department of Advertising at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign. She teaches Writing for Public Relations and Advertising Management Plan. She is also the Program Chair for internships and experiential learning. Along with her teaching experience, she is the chief strategist for the Strategic Peacock, which she founded in 2010. As a social media strategist and consultant, Marisa helps organizations create and implement online strategies that appropriately target the right audience with the right information using the right media.
Marisa received her Master of Arts in Liberal Studies in American Studies at Georgetown University and her undergraduate degree in psychology from Mount Holyoke College. She has presented at several marketing and media conferences, including the Home Furnishings Association, LavaCon, Luxury Travel Exchange, Association of Coupon Professionals, J. Boye, SocialSlam and Gilbane Boston.
marisacp@illinois.edu
Armando Sanchez-Monsivais
As an Account Executive at Amazon Advertising, Armando (he/him) believes that advertising’s core purpose is to help people and uses this compassionate approach for his clients to grow their businesses. He passed on his learnings to over 20 new teammates as one of the first employees in Amazon Advertising’s HQ2 in Arlington, Virginia. Armando became an initial handraiser to develop inclusive mechanisms to scale new hire onboarding as well as start up the first Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Advocacy group that aims to drive an ongoing DEI dialogue across the North American region.
Outside of work, Armando loves to connect with young talent. He was selected to join the first We Are Next Advisory Board, where he spearheaded the Brand Ambassador Program, the Young Talent in Tech team, and the widely popular Coffee at a Distance. He also served as a strategy mentor for VCU’s Camp AdVenture and provides consistent support for students at the University of Illinois and for AAF’s Most Promising Multicultural Student cohorts, both of which he is an alumni of.
Armando also loves LEGO, annotating every book he reads, and reviewing movies via Instagram stories. If you ever want to chat, Armando’s virtual door is always open.
Mike Yao
Mike Yao is a Professor of Digital Media and the Head of the Charles H. Sandage Department of Advertising in the College of Media. He teaches a digital media & marketing course at the Gies College of Business as an affiliated professor of business administration. Mike’s scholarly work focuses on digitally mediated social behavior and human-technology interaction. He is an Associate Editor of a flagship journal in communication research since 2018 and an editorial board member of two media journals for the past eight years, Professor Yao received his Ph.D. in communications in 2006 from the University of California at Santa Barbara.
mzyao@illinois.edu
Leona Yi-Fan Su
Dr. Leona Yi-Fan Su is an Assistant Professor in the Charles H. Sandage Department of Advertising, and a faculty affiliate of the Institute of Communications Research, the Center for Digital Agriculture, and the Informatics Program. Her research examines the interplay between media and society, with a particular focus on how social media and new technologies influence human communication and social behaviors in scientific and health contexts. A key strand of her current research involves using data-driven approaches to develop marketing strategies that will help brands engage with consumers more effectively online.
lyfsu@illinois.edu
Shabeeha Ahmed
Shabeeha is pursuing a master’s degree in information management and has three years of experience working for Big Four and Fortune 500 firms, where she developed numerous online portals for clients. Her responsibilities at the Brand Hub include creating and maintaining the Brand Hub and its related websites. She’s also in charge of assessing all of the websites’ visitor influx. Shabeeha is very enthusiastic about travelling and runs two travel blogs.
ahmed49@illinois.edu
Justyne Anne Go
Justyne is a senior in Advertising with minors in Art+Design and Global Markets and Society. She is a member of the American Advertising Federation as Creative Director for Pangaea Multicultural Agency and she likes to stay active in the College of Media. Justyne writes copy, designs marketing materials and assists in maintaining the Brand Hub website. She also likes to read fiction, drink coffee, hang out with her friends, and make art. jgo5@illinois.edu
Mohit Gupta
Brand Reputation Wellness Index
Mohit is currently a PhD. student in Informatics at the University of Illinois. His areas of concentration include Cognitive Science and Language Processing and Data Analytics and Information Visualization. His research focuses on the impact of trends in shared and earned media and on the making or breaking of for- and non-profit organizations. His goal is to use techniques in artificial intelligence and machine learning to find evidence and convey conclusions through novel visualization systems.
mohitg2@illinois.edu
Susan Muirhead
Susan is currently the Visiting Associate Director of the Hub for Brand Innovation and Advertising Technology in the Charles H. Sandage Department of Advertising in the College of Media. Before this, she was a Producer and Account Executive at Technicolor Digital Cinema where she worked with motion picture studios to distribute hundreds of theatrical releases to cinemas around the world. She has also served as the Multimedia Content Coordinator for the non-profit Illinois Legal Aid Online and has been a part-time faculty member of the Cinema Art + Science department at Columbia College Chicago and the Department of Media and Cinema Studies at the University of Illinois.
muirhea@illinois.edu
Akshari Nidugala
Akshari is a first year student at the iSchool pursuing her Master’s in Information Management. Prior to attending the University of Illinois, Akshari worked as a Business Analyst for two years at a Fortune 500 company. Her career interests lie in the areas of consulting, project management, and marketing. She enjoys her work with the Brand Hub and feels passionately about the mission of promoting Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Consulting, and Professional Development. By concentrating on these areas, she is confident that students will gain the necessary experience and knowledge for a successful career in the Advertising industry.
akshari2@illinois.edu
Danielle Rowaiye
Danielle currently works as the Social Media and Marketing Intern. She is a sophomore in advertising who helps with messaging and event promotion. She enjoys using her photography and design skills to develop creative content. She grew up in Lombard, Illinoi with an older brother who is also in college and a younger sister who is her mini-me. She enjoys fashion, baking, and indoor cycling. She is also a big fan of finding and trying out new restaurants, so please send her your recommendations! Rowaiye2@illinois.edu
Yanyun (Mia) Wang
Assistant
Mia Wang is a PhD. student at the Institute of Communications Research in the College of Media at the University of Illinois. Her areas of interest center on branding, consumer behaviors in virtual environments, VR/AR applications in health communication, and algorithm awareness. She works on brand-related data analysis, data visualization, and theory/concepts and constructions. She holds a B.A. in New Media Studies from Communication University in China and a M.S. in Advertising from the University of Illinois. Mia also has four years of experience in commercial video production and television programming.
wang518@illinois.edu
Mike Yao
Mike Yao is a Professor of Digital Media and the Head of the Charles H. Sandage Department of Advertising in the College of Media. He teaches a digital media & marketing course at the Gies College of Business as an affiliated professor of business administration. Mike’s scholarly work focuses on digitally mediated social behavior and human-technology interaction. He is an Associate Editor of a flagship journal in communication research since 2018 and an editorial board member of two media journals for the past eight years, Professor Yao received his Ph.D. in communications in 2006 from the University of California at Santa Barbara.
mzyao@illinois.edu
Syeda Rija Zaineb
Rija is a first-year student at the iSchool pursuing Master’s in Information Management. She has three years of professional experience in the areas of digital marketing, application development and web development. She is currently working as Web Developer at Brand Hub. She is responsible for creating and maintaining Brand Hub and associated websites. She aspires to pursue a career in consulting and product management.
szaineb2@illinois.edu
Jason Chambers
Jason P. Chambers is an associate professor in the Department of Advertising at the University of Illinois. A graduate of The Ohio State University, his work has been published in books and journals in the United States, Asia, and Europe. His published books include Madison Avenue and the Color Line: African Americans in the Advertising Industry and Building the Black Metropolis: African Entrepreneurship in Chicago . He is currently writing a book length biography of advertising legend Tom Burrell. Dr. Chambers’s opinions on diversity in adverting and multicultural marketing have been sought by a variety of media sources including Advertising Age, Adweek, the British Broadcasting Corporation, Forbes, Black Enterprise, The History Channel, the New York Times, National Public Radio, and USA Today.
jpchambe@illinois.edu
Jacob Fisher
Jacob (Ph.D., Communication, UC Santa Barbara) is an assistant professor in the Charles H. Sandage Department of Advertising in the College of Media at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and an affiliate of the Illinois Informatics Program. His research lies at the intersection of cognitive neuroscience and media psychology, using brain imaging, behavioral, and digital trace data to investigate how media influence how we direct our attention and pursue our goals.
jtfisher@illinois.edu
Shachar Meron
Shachar Meron is a Sr. Lecturer in the Charles H. Sandage Department of Advertising at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, where he teaches campaigns, strategy and copywriting. He is also Academic Director of Illinois' MS Strategic Brand Communication program, an online Masters program designed for working professionals.
Shachar is also a partner at Bluegreen Branding, where he bridges the worlds of brand strategy and creative ideation to help business leaders shape their vision and launch campaigns. Over his 20-year career he has worked on 100+ brands with a focus on B2B, tech, financial, and communications.
meron@illinois.edu
Marisa Peacock
Marisa Peacock is a full time lecturer in the Charles H. Sandage Department of Advertising at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign. She teaches Writing for Public Relations and Advertising Management Plan. She is also the Program Chair of Internships and Experiential Learning. Along with her teaching experience, she is the chief strategist for the Strategic Peacock, which she founded in 2010. As a social media strategist and consultant, Marisa helps organizations create and implement online strategies that appropriately target the right audience with the right information using the right media.
Marisa received her Master of Arts in Liberal Studies in American Studies at Georgetown University and her undergraduate degree in psychology from Mount Holyoke College. She has presented at several marketing and media conferences, including the Home Furnishings Association, LavaCon, Luxury Travel Exchange, Association of Coupon Professionals, J. Boye, SocialSlam and Gilbane Boston.
marisacp@illinois.edu
Leona Yi-Fan Su
Dr. Leona Yi-Fan Su is an Assistant Professor in the Charles H. Sandage Department of Advertising, and a faculty affiliate of the Institute of Communications Research, the Center for Digital Agriculture, and the Informatics Program. Her research examines the interplay between media and society, with a particular focus on how social media and new technologies influence human communication and social behaviors in scientific and health contexts. A key strand of her current research involves using data-driven approaches to develop marketing strategies that will help brands engage with consumers more effectively online.
lyfsu@illinois.edu
Mike Yao
Mike Yao is a Professor of Digital Media and the Head of the Charles H. Sandage Department of Advertising in the College of Media. He teaches a digital media & marketing course at the Gies College of Business as an affiliated professor of business administration. Mike's scholarly work focuses on digitally mediated social behavior and human-technology interaction. He is an Associate Editor of a flagship journal in communication research since 2018 and an editorial board member of two media journals for the past eight years, Professor Yao received his Ph.D. in communications in 2006 from the University of California at Santa Barbara.
mzyao@illinois.edu
Susan Muirhead
Susan is currently the Visiting Associate Director of the Hub for Brand Innovation and Advertising Technology in the Charles H. Sandage Department of Advertising in the College of Media. Before this, she was a Producer and Account Executive at Technicolor Digital Cinema where she worked with motion picture studios to distribute hundreds of theatrical releases to cinemas around the world. She has also served as the Multimedia Content Coordinator for the non-profit Illinois Legal Aid Online and has been a part-time faculty member of the Cinema Art + Science department at Columbia College Chicago and the Department of Media and Cinema Studies at the University of Illinois.
muirhea@illinois.edu
Danielle Rowaiye
Danielle currently works as the Social Media and Marketing Intern. She is a sophomore in advertising who helps with messaging and event promotion. She enjoys using her photography and design skills to develop creative content. She grew up in Lombard, Illinois with an older brother who is also in college and a younger sister who is her mini-me. She enjoys fashion, baking, and indoor cycling. She is also a big fan of finding and trying out new restaurants, so please send her your recommendations! Rowaiye2@illinois.edu
Mike Yao
Mike Yao is a Professor of Digital Media and the Head of the Charles H. Sandage Department of Advertising in the College of Media. He teaches a digital media & marketing course at the Gies College of Business as an affiliated professor of business administration. Mike's scholarly work focuses on digitally mediated social behavior and human-technology interaction. He is an Associate Editor of a flagship journal in communication research since 2018 and an editorial board member of two media journals for the past eight years, Professor Yao received his Ph.D. in communications in 2006 from the University of California at Santa Barbara.
