Executive Committee Members Election

 

At-Large Executive Committee Members Election

 

Dear AEJMC Advertising Division Members,

We are electing 3 at-large executive committee members to serve a three-year term on the Advertising Division’s Executive Committee (EC).

Following the election, the new EC members will work together to determine their specific roles, which include Special Topics Chair, Graduate Student Chair, Teaching and Pedagogy Chair, PF&R Chair, Communications Chair, or Secretary.

Please feel free to review the candidate bios and nominations below. You will receive an email invitation to vote. Please vote for up to three candidates by Sunday, July 6, 2025

Thank you for supporting the leadership and future of our division!

 

Ready to vote? Visit our community discussion post here

 

2025 EC Candidates

Anan Wan
Kansas State University

Bio

Anan Wan (Ph.D., University of South Carolina) is an Associate Professor of Advertising & Public Relations at Kansas State University. Her research explores emerging media technologies, influencer culture, consumer well-being, and implications of AI in advertising. She has received a Research Fellowship Award from the American Academy of Advertising (2025) and a Research Grant from the European Advertising Academy (2021), and was invited to present her work on media technologies’ impact on consumer well-being at the University of Cambridge.


Dr. Wan teaches a range of courses, including Principles of Advertising, International Advertising, Campaigns, and Strategic Communication Management, among others. She advises KSU’s AAF chapter and has mentored and served on 16 graduate theses and research projects.

A dedicated member of AEJMC’s Advertising Division since 2014, Dr. Wan has served as a paper reviewer, discussant, and panelist. She also contributed three years of service on the division’s WMSF Graduate Research Scholarship Sub-Committee, reviewing dozens of grant proposals and actively encouraging graduate student participation and grant submissions.

Dr. Wan is a 2025 Visiting Professor with the Association of National Advertisers Educational Foundation (AEF). Beyond academia, she offers pro bono advising to nonprofits, applying her advertising expertise to drive community impact.

Click here to read the nomination letter. 

Fan "Ellie" Yang
Illinois State University

Bio

Dr. Fan (“Ellie”) Yang is an Assistant Professor in the School of Communication at Illinois State University. Her research centers on investigating the optimal effects of media technology and message frames for persuasion effectiveness in strategic communication. By applying computational and conventional approaches, she has published numerous articles and book chapters in the areas of digital media, advertising, and computer-mediated communication. She has received numerous awards, including top paper awards from NCA and ICA. As an advocate for scholarly initiatives, Dr. Yang has served in the roles of moderator, chair, and panelist at national and international conferences. She also has served as a reviewer for various top-tier journals such as New Media & Society and Human Communication Research. Her teaching focus includes, but is not limited to, introduction to advertising, advertising research, and computational methods.

Click here to read the nomination letter. 

Faren Karimkhan
Syracuse University

Bio

I am an assistant professor of advertising at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, where I joined the faculty in 2022. I teach variety of advertising courses including Advertising Research and Planning, International Advertising and Fashion Advertising. My research explores digital advertising trends, focusing on the persuasive impact and ethical implications of human and AI-generated social media influencers through an empirical, applied approach. My work has been presented at leading academic conferences and is published or currently under review in respected journals and edited collections in advertising, marketing, and communication.

I am actively involved in service at Newhouse. I mentor both undergraduate and graduate students and serve on key committees, including the Graduate Program Studies Committee and the Diversity Committee. I am also an engaged member of the broader academic community, holding memberships in AEJMC, AAA, ICA, and NCA, and regularly serving as a reviewer for conference submissions.

Prior to joining Syracuse, I served as visiting faculty at Cornell University’s Dyson School (2020–2021). I received my Ph.D. in Communication with a concentration in Integrated Marketing Communication from Florida State University in 2022, and my M.A. in Communication from New Mexico State University in 2018.

Click here to read the nomination letter. 

Ilwoo Ju
Purdue Univeristy

Bio

Ilwoo Ju, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Advertising at Purdue University’s Brian Lamb School of Communication. His research focuses on ethical and persuasive advertising in digital and policy-relevant contexts, with special interest in consumer autonomy, digital media literacy, and data privacy. Dr. Ju has received multiple honors such as Best Paper and Research Fellowship Awards from the American Academy of Advertising (AAA), and his research on digital advertising disclosures, dark patterns, and consumer persuasion knowledge continues to contribute to the scholarly conversation on responsible advertising.

He has served actively on AAA’s Research, Membership, and Global and Multicultural Committees and has participated in AEJMC Advertising Division activities for over a decade, including roles as reviewer, discussant, and panel moderator. At Purdue, Dr. Ju has held leadership roles including unit head and advisory board member, while mentoring numerous graduate students and early-career scholars. He has also been recognized for his contributions to curriculum innovation and inclusive teaching.

Click here to read the nomination letter. 

Jihoon (Jay) Kim
University of Alabama

Bio

Dr. Jihoon (Jay) Kim is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations at the University of Alabama. He earned his Ph.D. in Mass Communication with a focus on Advertising from the University of Georgia.

Dr. Kim is an advertising scholar whose work bridges theory and practice in immersive technology and consumer psychology. His research explores the psychological and behavioral effects of emerging media technologies, including virtual reality, in the contexts of advertising, tourism, and sports marketing.

He has actively contributed to AEJMC’s Advertising Division for nearly a decade through research presentations, peer reviewing, and mentorship. He currently serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Current Issues & Research in Advertising and Sport Marketing Quarterly, and is Associate Editor of the Korean Journal of Communication. At the University of Alabama, he leads the Graduate Media Strategy & Analytics concentration and directs the Bama Reality Office (BRO), a research lab dedicated to immersive media.

Dr. Kim remains committed to mentoring students and supporting emerging scholars, and continues to lead initiatives that foster innovation and excellence in advertising education.

Click here to read the nomination letter. 

Mengyan Ma
Michigan State University

Bio

I am an Assistant Professor (Professor of Practice) in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations at Michigan State University, where I maintain an active research agenda and teach across in-person, synchronous, and asynchronous formats. Previously, I served as a tenure-track Assistant Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.

My research explores the impact of emerging technology, advertising, and family communication on well-being, with a focus on community engagement and social impact. I employ both quantitative and qualitative methods, and my work has been published in Journal of Family Communication, Journal of Advertising Education, Health Communication, Social Media + Society, among others.

I was recently awarded a Trifecta Grant and recognized with a Top Paper Abstract at the 2025 AEJMC Midwinter Conference. I serve on the AEJMC publishing team and sit on several committees, including the editorial board of Global Perspectives in Communication, the MSU Excellence-in-Teaching Citation Committee, the Department Research Resources and Scholarships Committees, and the Thesis and Dissertation Award Committee of the National Communication Association. I also direct an Education Abroad Program “International Advertising in China,” offering students the opportunity to blend academic learning with practical experience in one of the world’s most dynamic markets.

I hold a Ph.D. and M.A. from Michigan State University, along with a Graduate Certificate in Community Engagement and a Certificate in Advertising Ethics.

Click here to read the nomination letter. 

Quan Xie
Southern Methodist University

Bio

Dr. Quan Xie (Ph.D., Ohio University) is an Associate Professor of Advertising at Temerlin Advertising Institute, Southern Methodist University. Her research explores how emerging technologies and digital media shape branding and consumer experiences, with particular emphasis on AI in advertising, NFT marketing, and influencer marketing. Her work has been published in leading journals such as Journal of Advertising, Journal of Business Research, International Journal of Advertising, and Journal of Advertising Research, among others.

Quan is a two-time recipient of American Academy of Advertising’s (AAA) Research Fellowship. Her scholarship has earned numerous awards, such as AAA’s Best DEI Conference Paper Award, Top Research Paper Award from Broadcast Education Association, and Best Article of the Year Award from Journal of Interactive Advertising, etc. She currently serves as Associate Editor for Journal of Interactive Advertising and Journal of Global Marketing. She is also an Education Board member of American Advertising Federation (AAF) Dallas.

Quan has been actively involved with AEJMC since 2017, contributing as a presenter, moderator, panelist, and mentor. She has twice served on Advertising Division’s Graduate Student Scholarship Committee. In 2024, she was invited to serve as a mentor for the Division’s Graduate Student and Early-Career Networking Panel.

Click here to read the nomination letter. 

Yanyun (Mia) Wang
University of Colorado Boulder

Bio

Yanyun (Mia) Wang is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Advertising, Public Relations and Media Design at the University of Colorado Boulder. Her research investigates how emerging media technologies—particularly Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR)—influence consumer perception, emotional response, and decision-making across advertising and communication contexts. She explores the psychological mechanisms behind immersive experiences and their effects on brand engagement, prosocial messaging, and health promotion.

Wang also studies AI-driven recommender systems with a focus on trust, user experience, and decision confidence in digital environments. Her recent work pays special attention to children as an overlooked yet increasingly important user population for AI-based recommendation systems. She aims to understand how children interact with and form trust in AI, and how this differs from adult users in both commercial and developmental contexts.

Her research has appeared in journals such as New Media & Society, Journal of Interactive Advertising, Computers in Human Behavior, and Journal of Marketing Communications.

Wang earned her Ph.D. in Communication and Media Studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She also brings hands-on experience in video production and commercial content creation, which informs both her research and her teaching in advertising strategy and digital persuasion.. 

Click here to read the nomination letter.