Melanie B. Richards
Associate Chair, Graduate Program Coordinator, Program Head: Brand Communication
- richardsmb@etsu.edu
- 4234395575
- Warf-Pickel Hall, room 519-D
Dr. Melanie B. Richards is the Associate Chair of the ETSU Department of Media & Communication and leads the department's Brand Communication (formerly Advertising and Public Relations) program. She also serves as Graduate Program Coordinator for the M.A. in Brand & Media Strategy. She has been working in the research, analytics, and account planning world for over 20 years and prior to ETSU, spent the majority of her career working for both Fortune 500 companies and major nonprofit organizations in various marketing leadership roles. Her academic research primarily focuses on brand experience (particularly regarding the intersection of AI and other new technologies) and on the scholarship of teaching and learning. She is the co-author of the department's published experiential approach to teaching and student learning, the Applied Marketing & Media Education Norm. She has also published a breadth of research regarding cause based communication, public health communication, and intergenerational communication and dynamics in the workplace.