Meet the Doctoral Students

Ph.D. Cohort Entering 2007

Bill Bryant graduated from the University of King’s College and Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, in the 1960s. He worked as a reporter for the Newport (RI) Daily News and the Providence (RI) Journal in the 1970s. Then U.S. Senator Claiborne Pell (D-RI) recruited him and Bill served two decades as his press secretary, legislative aid and federal projects officer. When the Senator retired in the 1990s, Bill became a consultant focusing on communications. His work included groups ranging from Greenpeace to the American Bar Association and DOD’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

Arielle Emmett has been a professional journalist and teacher since beginning her career as a correspondent for Newsweek in the 1970s in Taiwan. A graduate of the University of Michigan in East Asian studies and pre-med, Arielle served as The New York Times intern for columnist William Safire before working as a correspondent and free lance journalist in the Far East. Later she became a science and features reporter for The Detroit Free Press and The Scientist. She has held several magazine editor-in-chief positions and has written books and scripts on technology, science, and East Asian culture. Emmett holds a master’s degree from the University of Washington in advanced writing. In recent years she served as a journalism lecturer at Temple University, specializing in magazines, New Media, and visual communications.

Jeff Lemberg has worked as an editor and reporter at various print publications for the past 13 years, the past three as managing editor of PRESSTIME. He is a former journalism fellow at The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, worked as a correspondent for The Boston Globe, and served as managing editor of SchoolSports magazine. Jeff also has spent years working as an adjunct professor, teaching at Boston University, American University, the University of Maryland and a variety of state schools in Massachusetts. He received his master's degree in journalism from Boston University and his bachelor's degree in advertising from the University of Bridgeport. The 2007 Scripps Howard Doctoral Fellow, Jeff also will teach in the College.

Robbie Morganfield, a veteran newspaper journalist and journalism educator, most recently served as executive director of the Freedom Forum Diversity Institute at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. He previously worked at daily newspapers in Fort Lauderdale, Detroit, Tulsa, Houston and Fort Worth, holding positions as a reporter, editor and columnist. He also has taught journalism at the University of Arkansas, Texas Christian University, University of Texas at Arlington and St. Augustine's College. He has won awards for both his reporting and teaching. Robbie, who is an ordained minister, received his bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Mississippi, master's degree in journalism and educational policy/leadership from The Ohio State University and master of divinity from Texas Christian University. He will assist the Merrill College with diversity initiatives and teach courses in multicultural reporting, and religion and media. The focus of his doctoral studies will be race, religion and media.

Xiaoyan Pan graduated from Fudan University in Shanghai, China, with a bachelor’s degree in journalism, and then worked as a reporter and editor for several years for Baosteel Daily in Shanghai. Xiaoyan won several national awards for covering the people whose life was affected by radical economic reforms in China. She helped launch a national human resources magazine, SmartFortune, and was its vice Editor-in-Chief. In 2002-2003, she conducted media research at the Graduate School of Journalism at UC-Berkeley as a visiting scholar, before undertaking master’s study at the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. Xiaoyan is interested in online communication, gender issues, and comparative study in general. Her first book, Office Politics, published in 2003, focused on how communication skills help people establish harmonious relationships in a competitive working environment.

Ph.D. Cohort Entering 2006

Matt Bates, active in the labor/alternative press since the 1960s, worked as a daily reporter for Connecticut's Manchester Journal-Inquirer during the 1980s. For 15 years, he handled internal and external communications for the Machinists’ international union, before becoming Secretary-Treasurer of the AFL-CIO Union Label & Service Trades Department in 2003. With a B.A. in Communications from the University of Connecticut and an M.S. in Labor Studies from the University of Massachusetts, he is studying class and the U.S. news media. He is a teaching assistant with Dr. Susan Moeller’s media literacy course.

Merrilee Cox is a veteran broadcast journalist and manager, serving most recently as Washington Bureau Chief for ABC News, Radio. During more than 20 years with ABC, she traveled extensively and was directly involved in coverage of news events including the war in Iraq, U.S. elections and political conventions, the Millennium Celebration and numerous Olympics. She received her master's degree from the Newhouse School at Syracuse University and her bachelor's in political science from American University. The most recent Scripps Howard Doctoral Fellow, she also will teach in the College.

Megan Fromm holds a bachelor's degree in mass communication with an emphasis in news/editorial from Mesa State College in Colorado. She has worked as a reporter and copy editor at newspapers in Colorado and California and has interned at the Washington Times and the Student Press Law Center. While an undergraduate, she was awarded the Society of Professional Journalists' Sunshine Award and the Colorado Press Association's Friend of the First Award for pursuing open government and freedom of information principles. Interested in media law and ethics, she is a teaching assistant with Dr. Susan Moeller’s media literacy course.

Sonia Pedrosa Pereira has worked as a reporter and editor for twenty years in Brazil, mainly in the coverage of economic issues. As part of her mater's degree in communication, she wrote a thesis about the coverage in Brazilian newspapers of labor and workers. During her masters, she was a trainee teacher at the College of Communications of Rio de Janeiro State University. Studying at Maryland under a Fulbright Fellowship, she is particularly interested in analyzing the international coverage by American newspapers of Latin American issues, especially those related to Brazil.

Lindsey Wotanis received her bachelor’s degree in communication studies from Wilkes University, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, where she served as the managing editor of the university’s newspaper. In 2006, she received her master’s degree in rhetoric from Carnegie Mellon University, where she was research assistant to Dr. Linda Flower and a workshop teacher for Take Back the Hill, a community youth newspaper program for inner-city teens. She is a teaching assistant with Dr. Susan Moeller’s media literacy course.

Ph.D. Cohort Entering 2005

Farwa Imam Ali writes for The Week magazine and The New Indian Express newspaper in India. At the latter, she helped launch YES Vibes, a tabloid for students. Holder of a bachelor’s degree in sociology and a master’s degree in journalism and communication, she has several years of experience in print journalism, as well as training in television news. She will be the editorial assistant to Dr. Carol L. Rogers on the journal Science Communication.

Eric Easton is an associate professor of law at the University of Baltimore School of Law, where he teaches media law, legal writing, and torts. From 1972 to 1993, he was a reporter, editor, and ultimately publisher of Business Publishers, Inc., a Washington newsletter publisher. He holds a B.S. from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University and a J.D. from the University of Maryland School of Law.

Ray Gamache, an associate professor of communication before entering the doctoral program, taught journalism and communication theory for 18 years at Saint Anselm College and Notre Dame College in Manchester, New Hampshire. Author/editor of three books, including The Water Is Wide: Notre Dame College's Journey 1976-2000 (2002), he has bachelor's and master's degrees from West Virginia University. He assists Penny Bender Fuchs with the American Association of Sunday and Feature Editors.

A.R. Hogan received both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in journalism from the College. While an undergraduate, he won national awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and the Hearst Foundation. An accomplished freelance writer for many years, he is taking an in-depth look at the history of network television coverage of the space program from the 1950s to the present.

Shuling Huang is from Taiwan, where she obtained her B.A. and M.A. degrees in sociology at National Taiwan University. She has worked for the Liberty Times as a reporter and editor in Taipei, covering ecological and educational issues among others. She plans to focus her doctoral studies on media reform. She assists College faculty on individual research projects.

Andrew Kaplan received his master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University and his bachelor’s degree from Yale University. Prior to joining the doctoral program, he worked as an online producer for the Epilepsy Foundation and has run his own communication consulting company. He plans to study the media’s impact on society, as well as political communication. He assists Professor David Broder.

Rafael Lorente was a Washington correspondent for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel for almost seven years. Prior to coming to Washington, he covered local and state politics in Florida for the Sun-Sentinel and The Miami Herald. Recipient of a master's degree from the Merrill College, he has been an adjunct professor here for several years. He is the most recent Scripps Howard doctoral fellow and a visiting professor.

Wenjing Xie, who is from China, received a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Shandong University in China and master’s degrees from Renmin University of China and Hong Kong Baptist University. She has interned as a journalist in CCTV and at Economic Daily in China and is interested in the impacts of global communication flows and new technology. She assists College faculty on individual research projects.

Ph.D. Cohort Entering 2004

Natalie Hopkinson writes for the Style section of the Washington Post. She received her master's degree from the Merrill College in 1999 and has been an adjunct professor. She has the Scripps Howard doctoral fellowship and continues to write regularly for the Post while she pursues her doctoral study.

Norm Lewis has been editor of three papers in the Pacific Northwest. He was a Knight Fellow at the College several years ago and became excited then about becoming a journalism professor. Norm assists Gene Roberts and also helps with the new Media Literacy course.

Svetlana Markova is from Moscow and has worked in both journalism and public relations. Her master's degree is from Moscow State University. Svetlana assists Professor Haynes Johnson.

Priyanka Matanhelia is from India, where she has been a writer and teacher. She teaches three discussion section of the Media Literacy course for her assistantship.

Indira Somani was an assistant professor at American University’s School of Communication. She has worked as a producer for ABC, NBC and CBS affiliates and for CNBC. She is currently an adjunct lecturer and teaches the broadcast producing course. For more information, go to: www.indirasomani.com.

Ph.D. Cohort Entering 2003

Marlene Cimons. Cimons, the third recipient of the Scripps Howard Doctoral Fellowship, is a former award-winning Washington correspondent for the Los Angeles Times. She holds a political science and journalism degree from Syracuse (N.Y.) University.

James Matthew Giglio. Prior to joining the Ph.D. program, Giglio was a research assistant at the Center for Media Education in Washington, D.C. and a graduate teaching assistant at Virginia Polytechnic Institute where he studied communication studies. He plans to study news media and youth civic education during his time at Maryland.

Jad Melki. Melki has a unique blend of technical and journalistic skills with degrees in computer science from the University of Balamand in Lebanon and journalism and mass communications from Kent State University in Ohio. He has worked as a news producer for WTVR in Richmond, Va., Web site researcher and designer for “Nightline” and “ABCNews” and a multimedia producer for The Digital Journalist online.

Paul Mihailidis. Mihailidis, a media and publishing studies graduate from the University of Stirling in Scotland, was a production editor at Pearson Education, Allyn & Bacon, before joining the doctoral program at Maryland. He plans to study media and society with a cultural focus during his doctoral career.

Bu Zhong. Zhong was an editor at CNN and earlier a reporter and chief copy editor of China Daily in Beijing before joining the Merrill College’s doctoral program. He holds journalism degrees from China School of Journalism and the University of Missouri.

COHORT ENTERING 2002

Carlos Agudelo. An associate professor for the School of Communications at the Universidad de Antioquia in Medellin, Colombia, Agudelo plans to return there after earning his doctorate degree to further expand the university’s journalism program.

Jared Ball. A graduate of Cornell University and Frostburg State University, Ball is the co-founder, editor and contributing writing of NuExodus, a pan-African magazine based in Ithaca, N.Y.

Chunying Cai. Cai was editor in chief of Wenzhou University Newspaper and program director and host of Ouhai People’s Radio Station in China before joining the Ph.D. program at Maryland.

Tamara Henry. Henry, the second recipient of the Scripps Howard Doctoral Fellowship at Maryland, was a national education correspondent for USA Today and earlier The Associated Press before joining the Ph.D. program in September.

John Kirch. A graduate of American University’s School of Communications and the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism, Kirch was an adjunct professor at American University in Washington and earlier an associate editor of Security Management Magazine and a reporter for several daily newspapers throughout New England.

COHORT ENTERING 2001

Ira Chinoy. Chinoy, the first recipient of the Scripps Howard Doctoral Fellowship at Maryland, teaches computer-assisted reporting at the Merrill College as a visiting professor from Harvard College in Massachusetts.

Tracy Lucht. An alumnus and former teaching assistant at Iowa State University’s Greenlee School of Journalism, Lucht was as a reporter and copy editor for The Des Moines Register and The Storm Lake (Iowa) Pilot-Tribune.

Stacy Spaulding. Spaulding was a content producer for USATODAY.com and a coordinator of the journalism program at Columbia Union College before joining the Ph.D. program in September 2001.

Kevin Swift. Swift, a master’s graduate and former teaching assistant of Duquesne University, was a writer and producer of WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh, Pa. before pursuing his doctoral degree at Maryland.

Lane Williams. An alumnus of Ohio State University and Brigham Young University, Lane was a journalism professor at BYU-Idaho and earlier a managing editor of Enrich Magazine.