Five new faculty members join the West Virginia University P.I. Reed School of Journalism this fall.
James Ebel brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the School as the Visiting Harrison/Omnicom Professor in Integrated Marketing Communications. Ebel has served as an Executive-in-Residence at the College of Business at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, teaching capstone and undergraduate courses in entrepreneurship.
Ebel has had successful careers as an entrepreneur and a corporate marketer, with clients including Kimberly-Clark, Bristol Myers Squibb, and Rhone-Poulenc-Rorer. He is a nationally recognized expert on brand positioning through his consultancy CenterBrain Partners.
In 2004, Ebel co-founded The CareGiver Partnership, a national direct-to-consumer retailer of more than 2,000 healthcare products for non-professional caregivers. In addition, he has served on a number of non-profit boards. Ebel holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and a master’s degree in business from Indiana University.
Hongmin Ahn, Ph.D., also brings her expertise to the School of Journalism as an assistant professor in the advertising program. She previously taught advertising courses at the University of Texas at Austin where she received the Tracy-Locke/Morris Hite Endowed Presidential Award for Advertising Studies.
Ahn’s research focuses on brand management, advertising appeals and cross-cultural media psychology. Her research articles have been published or are currently under review at the International Journal of e-Business Management, European Journal of Marketing and Journal of Brand Management.
Ahn has worked for international advertising agencies and has planned and conducted campaigns for several well-known companies including Roche, SK Telecom, and Hyundai Motors. She received her bachelor’s degree in mass communication from Chung-Ang University, Seoul, Korea, and earned her Ph.D. in advertising from the University of Texas at Austin.
Tom Stewart returns to his alma mater this fall as a teaching assistant professor in the journalism program. He previously taught news writing as an adjunct instructor at the School of Journalism.
Prior to becoming an educator, Stewart spent nearly three decades at the Tribune-Review in Greensburg, Pa., where he held several positions, including, reporter, copy editor and editor.
Stewart earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism from Pennsylvania State University and his master’s in journalism from WVU.
Emily Hughes Corio is also returning to the School of Journalism. She previously taught radio reporting and broadcast news writing as an adjunct instructor at the School. She joins the faculty this fall as teaching assistant professor in the journalism program.
Corio has spent the past decade working in journalism. Before joining the School’s faculty, she was assistant news director for the statewide public television and radio network in West Virginia. Her radio reporting and stories have aired on NPR’s “All Things Considered” and “Morning Edition,” WNYC’s and PRI’s “The Takeaway,” and the CBC. In 2008, she was awarded a Knight Center for Environmental Journalism Fellowship, which provided her with the opportunity to travel to Alaska to study impacts of climate change.
Corio holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Carolina in Greensboro, N.C., where she graduated from the Broadcasting and Cinema Department. She received her Master of Science in Journalism from WVU.
Elizabeth Oppe, Ph.D., is a West Virginia native and a WVU alumna. She joins the School of Journalism’s faculty as a teaching assistant professor in the public relations program.
Prior to coming to WVU, Oppe held several faculty positions at Florida State College at Jacksonville, Glenville State College, University of Charleston, West Virginia State University and West Virginia Wesleyan. She has taught courses in business, public relations and communications, as well graduate courses in change and innovation. Oppe also worked for a short time as a sideline reporter for CBS College Sports.
Oppe earned her Ph.D. in instructional and organizational communication from Ohio University. One of her research areas focuses on service learning, which combines her background in business and education with community service.
She received her bachelor’s degree from Glennville State College and her master’s degree in business administration from WVU.