Faculty
Jan Slater
103 Gregory Hall
(217) 333-1602
slaterj - at - illinois.edu
Education
Ph.D., S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, Syracuse University (Mass Communications)
M.S., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Advertising)
B.A., Hastings College, Hastings, Nebraska
Affiliations
Head, Department of Advertising
Professor of Advertising
Course Specialties
Advertising Strategy
Account Planning
Advertising Management
Advertising Campaigns
Background
Prior to her appointment at Illinois, Slater was an associate professor and the associate director of the E. W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University for nine years. She joined the academy following a long career as an advertising practitioner, working in private industry, as well as advertising agencies in Omaha, Nebraska. When she left the business, she was running a successful advertising agency, J. Slater & Associates. Slater has been an active member of the Association for Educators in Journalism and Mass Communication since 1995. She has served on the Advertising Division’s executive committee — as research chair, teaching chair, vice head and head. She continues to work in the division as a co-chair of the Pre-conference Teaching Workshop, which is one of the longest running pre-conference programs. She served as vice chair and chair of the Council of Divisions for four years, and last year was named a member of the AEJMC Strategic Planning Design Team. Slater is also a member of the Academic Committee of the American Advertising Federation.
Research/Creative Endeavor
Slater's primary research focus is on brand strategy, media strategy and building brand relationships. Her research has been published in Journalism & Mass Communication Educator, MediaWeek, the Journal of Advertising Education, and Advances in Consumer Research. She is a contributing author to a series of advertising books published by Sage and co-author of "What’s in a Name? Advertising and the Concept of Brands." She continues to consult for national and international companies and was recently invited to China to discuss automobile branding in China.