Faculty bios:

Who are we, anyway?

Paul Bolls

Associate Professor, Strategic Communication

Paul Bolls' research agenda is focused on cognitive/emotional processing of media. He is interested in discovering how content and production features of media can be combined to create effective public health campaign messages. Prior to joining the Missouri School of Journalism, Bolls taught and directed the Laboratory for the Study of Communication, Emotion and Cognition at Washington State University in Pullman. His work has been published in Communication Research, Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, Journal of Marketing Communications and Media Psychology. Bolls has presented his research to professional groups including the National Association of Broadcasters, Seattle Advertising Federation and Danish National Radio. He completed his doctorate degree at Indiana University in Bloomington in 1999. He holds a master's degree from Washington State University and bachelor's degree from Montana State University in Bozeman. Bolls' professional background includes eight years working in commercial radio.

Glenn Leshner

Associate Professor, Strategic Communication

Glenn Leshner’s research interests focus on social and psychological processing of news media, health, and political communication. His teaching interests include media effects, mass communication theory, and quantitative research methods. Recently, his research attention has focused on the relationship between health public service announcements and cognitive and affective outcomes. Specifically, he has conducted studies that examine how antismoking public service announcements are framed and the kinds of appeals used impact cognitive, emotional, and behavioral responses of both smokers and non-smokers. He also actively examines the cognitive processing of television news.

He earned his Ph.D. at Stanford in 1994, prior to joining the journalism faculty at the University of Missouri. He worked in radio and television in North and South Carolina as a photographer, field producer and reporter. He holds a master's degree in journalism from the University of South Carolina, and a bachelor's degree from Rutgers.

Leshner, an associate professor, has been at MU since 1994 in the School of Journalism. He also has a courtesy appointment in the Department of Communication.

Kevin Wise

Assistant Professor, Strategic Communication

Kevin Wise is an Assistant Professor of Strategic Communication. His research explores how different features of online media affect cognition and emotion. This research has been published in numerous peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, Computers in Human Behavior, CyberPsychology & Behavior, Communication Research, Media Psychology, and the Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media. Wise is an active member of the International Communication Association (ICA) and the Society for Psychophysiological Research (SPR). He earned his bachelor's and master's degrees from Indiana University and his doctorate from Stanford University.