Melissa A. Johnson
Associate Professor


Director of the Graduate Studies
Department of Communication

Education
Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1993

Focus Area
International visual communication, digital and traditional ethnic media (especially Latino media), and public relations concepts related to Latinos, Latin America, technology, and innovation

NC State University
Department of Communication
Campus Box 8104
201 Winston Hall
Raleigh, NC 27695-8104

TEL: 919.515.9757
FAX: 919.515.9456


melissa_johnson@ncsu.edu

Melissa A. Johnson holds a doctorate in mass communication research from the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Her research focuses on international visual communication, digital and traditional ethnic media (especially Latino media), and public relations concepts related to Latinos, Latin America, technology, and innovation. She has published numerous book chapters along with articles in Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, Journal of Communication, Communication Research, Critical Studies in Mass Communication, The Howard Journal of Communication, Mass Communication & Society, Atlanta Journal of Communication, the Journal of Public Relations Research, and Public Relations Review. In addition, Dr. Johnson produced a comprehensive analysis of Latino magazine health coverage, "What's the Diagnosis: Los Latinos, Media and Health," published by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

Dr. Johnson has received the Department of Communication’s Outstanding Teacher Award five times. In addition to teaching at NC State, she has taught at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, San Diego State University, and Elon College. In 2007 she served as the Roy H. Park Distinguished Visiting Professor at the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at UNC Chapel Hill.

Along with teaching experience, Dr. Johnson has more than a dozen years of communication practitioner experience. This included positions as vice president of corporate relations for a large California financial institution and director of public relations for a top-ranked U.S. school of public health. She has also worked in agency public relations and radio broadcasting.

Dr. Johnson is a past president of the San Diego Press Club and the Public Relations Club of San Diego. She is a former board member of the North Carolina chapter of the Public Relations Society of America. In 2007 she was recognized with the Watt Huntley Award for Lifetime Achievement by the Raleigh Public Relations Society for her educational contributions to North Carolina public relations practitioners.

She serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Public Relations Research, The Howard Journal of Communication, and Communication Studies, and reviews for a number of other communication journals and conferences.

She recently received the Communication Graduate Student Association Outstanding Faculty Award.