Our Faculty
Learn from experienced professionals, academic scholars and thought leaders.
Medill IMC faculty members reflect a mix of both industry professionals and academic scholars. They produce cutting-edge research, lead top marketing communications companies and develop innovative solutions to complex challenges. They consistently push the envelope in the field of marketing communications to find the most effectives strategies for engaging consumers—now and in the future.
At Medill, not only do you learn from these experienced thought leaders in the classroom, but they also become your mentors and supporters. In addition, you join their networks of marketing communications professionals who work all over the world.
Vijay Viswanathan
Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani Professor of Integrated Marketing Communications and Associate Dean of IMC
Viswanathan's research focuses on consumer decision making, especially in the realm of branding, pricing, cross-media consumption and social influence. His research has important implications for the economic impact of managerial decisions related to marketing communications.
Gerry Chiaro (MSA84)
Associate Professor and Director of IMC Immersion Quarter
Chiaro recently worked in marketing for several CPG companies such as Frito Lay, Pepsi Bottling Group, Gatorade, Pizza Hut and McDonald's. He then started a consulting businesses and served clients such as TGI Fridays, Travelocity, Anheuser-Busch, United Airlines and Coke.
Judy Franks
Professor
Franks brings nearly four decades of experience to the research and practice of media strategy for integrated marketing communications. Franks spent 23 years in Chicago's top ad agencies—Leo Burnett, FCB, Havas (formerly TLK), Starcom and Energy BBDO where she rose to the executive ranks in both media management and communications planning.
Tom Hayden
Lecturer, Academic Director for the IMC Certificate Program
Currently, Hayden teaches IMC Law, Ethics & Technology and Data Governance in both the graduate and undergraduate programs. He also serves as academic director and academic advisor to students in the IMC Undergraduate Certificate program, and is chairman of Medill’s Academic Standards Committee.
Randy Hlavac
Lecturer
Hlavac teaches Digital, Social and Mobile Marketing. He teaches his classes to use the most sophisticated social monitoring and management systems while building actual social and mobile marketing strategies for companies throughout the world.
Yu Xu
Assistant Professor
Xu's research interests include media industries and analytics, social and communication networks, organizational change, ecology and evolution, and computational social science.