CDC’s Nowak Named First Mizzou Advantage Visiting Professional

Feb. 02, 2012

Story Contact(s):
Nathan Hurst, hurstn@missouri.edu, 573-882-6217

By Jerett Rion

COLUMBIA, Mo. – University of Missouri officials have named Glen Nowak, senior adviser to the Director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the inaugural Mizzou Advantage Distinguished Visiting Professional. At MU, Nowak will be a part of the Health Communication Research Center (HCRC) at the University of Missouri School of Journalism.

In his role at the CDC, Nowak leads efforts in science communication, health communication, risk communication, news media, social marketing and public engagement. Prior to this role, he was the CDC’s Chief of Media Relations and an associate professor of advertising and public relations at the University of Georgia.

“Our first Mizzou Advantage Distinguished Visiting Professional is a great example of the power of interdisciplinary collaboration that Mizzou Advantage fosters across campus,” Charles Davis, Mizzou Advantage facilitator and associate professor in the University of Missouri School of Journalism, said. “He will work with faculty in more than a dozen disciplines, highlighting new areas of research and strengthening our collaborations with federal agencies.”

As a visiting professional at MU, Nowak will focus his efforts on strategic communication strategies regarding science, health, environmental issues, and risk management. He also will work with various groups on campus to apply crisis and risk communications based on his experience with the CDC’s pandemic influenza preparedness and response efforts.

“It’s very exciting to have him join us as a Mizzou Advantage Distinguished Visiting Professional,” said Glen Cameron, HCRC senior investigator and the Maxine Wilson Gregory Chair in Journalism Research in the University of Missouri School of Journalism. “He will work with groups around campus speaking to classes, working with students and brainstorming about curriculum.”

Nowak received a bachelor’s degree in economics and communication from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He also received a master’s degree in journalism and a doctorate in mass communication from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The Mizzou Advantage was created to increase MU’s visibility, impact and stature in higher education, locally, statewide, nationally and around the world. Mizzou Advantage is a program that focuses on five areas of strength: food for the future, managing innovation, media of the future, one health/one medicine, and sustainable energy. The goals of Mizzou Advantage are to strengthen existing faculty networks, create new networks and propel Mizzou’s research, instruction and other activities to the next level.