Northwestern University in Qatar has appointed three distinguished professors who bring a wealth of experience in both the academic, and media and communications industry.
Banu Akdenizli has been appointed to the faculty as an associate professor of communication, while Marco Williams will serve in residence as a professor of communication for the fall semester 2016, and George Anghelcev will serve as an associate professor in residence, also for fall semester 2016.
“Professors Akdenizli, Williams, and Anghelcev bring broad and diverse perspectives of the communication and journalism fields to Northwestern,” Dean and CEO Everette E. Dennis said. “From expertise in digital communication and public relations to being an award-winning documentary and filmmaker, to an academic career devoted to research and teaching strategic communication and advertising, each provides a unique talent and expertise to our university and its students.”
Akdenizli, who will teach courses in digital and mobile media, comes to NU-Q from Yeditepe University in Turkey where she served as an associate professor in the School of Communication. She has also worked with the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism in Washington D.C. as an analyst and index methodologist, and adjunct faculty in communication at George Mason University and at Temple University in telecommunications and mass media. She received her Ph.D. in mass media and communication from Temple University, her MA in translation and interpretation studies and her BA in sociology from Bogazici University in Istanbul, Turkey.
Williams is an arts professor at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, one the leading film schools in the world. In addition to being an award winning documentary and nominated fiction film director, he has also served as an executive producer on several films. At the Tisch School he teaches fiction and nonfiction film production, screenwriting, and television production. At NU-Q he will teach courses in screenwriting and directing. Among the awards he has received are an Emmy, George Foster Peabody Award, Columbia-DuPont Silver Baton, and Silver Award for Best International Documentary. His films have been screened at the Sundance, Berlin, Bombay, Miami, Margaret Mead, Toronto, and Pan African film festivals, among others. Williams received his BA from Harvard University and an MA and MFA from UCLA.
Anghelcev is an associate professor at Pennsylvania State University in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations where he teaches such courses as cross-cultural and international strategic communication, among others. At NU-Q he will teach courses in strategic communication in the journalism program.A frequent presenter at scholarly and professional meetings, he serves on the editorial boards of the International Journal of Advertising and the Journal of Social Marketing. His recent publications have taken up such topics as anti-drinking and driving advertising, perceptions of climate change, predictors of media multitasking and the role of attention in advertising effectiveness. Anghelcev received his PhD. from the University of Minnesota, and his MA and BA from Babes-Bolyai University in Romania.
“These additions to the NU-Q faculty are part of a continuing effort to recognize major change in the media industries where disruption demands new approaches,” said Dennis.
