Fall 2023 Moody News

Search For Next Moody College Dean Enters Final Phase

The selection process for Moody College’s next dean has entered its final phase, according to the Dean Search Committee. The committee announced three forums as the semester closes, allowing students to meet the prospective candidates face-to-face. The committee will seek feedback and survey students following the forums, as a final decision draws closer. The next dean will take the reigns from Interim Dean Rachel Davis Mersey, who will return to her role as Associate Dean for Research once a permanent successor is named.

MOODY ADVERTISING PROGRAM, UT PLACE ATOP NATIONAL RANKINGS

Moody College and UT Austin continued to draw national praise this fall. Notably, Moody’s grad uate advertising sequence, which includes Texas Strategy, Texas Immersive and Texas Creative, ranked as the number one program in the nation, according to College Raptor. Additionally, UT continued its run as the top public university in Texas, and jumped up to the ninth-best public school in the country, based on the latest rankings from U.S. News & World Report. Overall, UT sits at number 32 when stacked against all public and private universities, with standout pro grams in accounting, finance and marketing.

ROBERT MOODY, COLLEGE’S NAMESAKE, PASSES AWAY

Robert L. “Bobby” Moody Sr., the businessman responsible for the historic $50 million endowment that transformed the Moody College of Communication a decade ago, passed away at 88 in November. At the time, the gift was the largest endowment ever provided for a public communication school. Moody and his foundation also guided the creation of the Moody Center and ACL Live at the Moody Theater.

NEW LEADERSHIP IN TEXAS STUDENT MEDIA

By Kelsey Simmons, advertising freshman

With the promotion of Gerald Johnson to lead innovation at Moody College, Will Parchman took his place as the new director of Texas Student Media in November. TSM oversees The Daily Texan, the Texas Travesty, the Cactus Yearbook, KVRX 91.7 FM, Burnt X, TSTV and The Drag Audio. Parchman previously served as the director of student media at UT Arlington and worked in sports journalism.

Alongside Johnson, other TSM professionals received promotions. Emily Cohen will now be the Director for Marketing, Agency and Advertising Operations, Frank Serpas III will now be the Assistant Director for Business and Media Operations and Marlies Arevalo will now be the Manager for Advertising and Revenue/Product Strategy. In conjunction with Cohen’s new role, TSM is launching a full-service, student-run advertising and PR agency with the Stan Richards School of Advertising and Public Relations.

"TSM is phenomenally positioned to continue to be a national leader in the college media space moving forward, and I’m honored to play a role in that. My aim is to build on the legacy Gerald laid down these last nine years by continuing to grow our revenue strategy, build on the strong foundation of journalism excellence TSM is known for, and work to produce graduates who become national and global leaders in their space. With TSM’s incredible professional staff and continuing support from Moody buttressing our efforts, the future has never been brighter for TSM." - Will Parchman