Professor Jay Newell receives Allen Essman Faculty Fellowship

Jay Newell, Greenlee professor and associate director

Jay Newell, professor in advertising and associate director of the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication, is the 2020 recipient of the Greenlee School’s Allen Essman Faculty Fellowship.

Established in 2018, the Essman Faculty Fellowship recognizes excellence in advertising and/or public relations education. The award was made possible by Iowa State alumna Denise Essman (’73 marketing) in memory of her late husband, Allen K. Essman, an alumnus and distinguished advertising professional who was also an instructor in advertising and photography at the Greenlee School from 1969 through 1972. He passed away in 2010.

The fellowship provides support for a graduate assistant or postdoctoral stipend, secretarial or technical assistance, travel expenses, research support or other related purposes.

“The Essman Faculty Fellowship recognizes excellence. Jay Newell embodies this excellence through his successful professional career, innovative scholarship and unwavering support for his students. The Greenlee School is proud of all his accomplishments and is thrilled to recognize him through this prestigious fellowship,” said Michael Dahlstrom, director of the Greenlee School and LAS Dean’s Professor.

A Greenlee faculty member since 2003, Newell teaches advertising courses including Principles of Advertising, Media Planning and Media Management. He has been nationally recognized for his innovations in teaching, earning the 2016 American Advertising Federation Distinguished Advertising Educator Award, the 2016 Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Advertising Division Distinguished Teaching Award, and several awards from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

In cooperation with Google, he and colleagues in the Greenlee School and the Department of Computer Science developed an interdisciplinary Ad Tech course where students develop advertising creative from data streams. Since 2015, he’s led six Iowa State student teams to the finals of the Washington Media Scholars Case Competition, a national media planning competition.

Newell’s research focuses on the use of mediated communication to enhance educational experience in large-scale university courses and media saturation. He’s the editor of the Journal of Advertising Education, and he has shared his expertise in political advertising with national publications, including the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, USA Today and Huffington Post. Newell’s academic life follows a 20-year career helping create television networks including CNN, TNT and Nickelodeon.

“Allen Essman was a professor and an advertising professional. I hope to follow in Essman’s footsteps, merging creativity with quantitative and qualitative research,” Newell said.

A two-time Iowa State graduate, Allen Essman received his bachelor’s degree in psychology in 1969 and his master’s degree in journalism and mass communication in 1972. His career in advertising included stints as copywriter for the Meredith Corporation and creative director for Wesley Day Advertising.

headshot of Denise Essman
Denise Essman

In 1977, he and Denise Essman established Essman/Associates, an integrated marketing communications company, and Essman/Research, a qualitative and quantitative research firm in Des Moines, Iowa. Throughout his 40-year career, Allen was recipient of more than 55 regional, national and international awards and was included in the first edition of “Who’s Who in Advertising.”

Denise Essman is a Greenlee School Advisory Council member, an ISU Foundation Governor and a board member of the ISU Research Park. She continues to lead Essman/Associates. Essman/Research was purchased by the State Public Policy Group in 2017.

“We’re an Iowa State family. Al loved his experience at ISU and attributed our good fortune in business and life to the education and the many opportunities he received via the Greenlee School. We want others to experience the same excellent education and to look back on their ISU days as the best ever,” said Denise Essman. “The student scholarship we established several years ago, also in Al’s name, is supporting students who might not otherwise have those opportunities.”

Newell will be recognized by Greenlee faculty, staff and the Greenlee School Advisory Council at its Oct. 2 meeting.