School of Marketing, Communication & Design

Marketing, Communication & Design Faculty

People participating in a virtual panel discussion or interview in a studio setting.

Doug Van Praet

Executive Director, Schools of Brand Communication
Executive Director, School of Marketing, Communication and Design

Doug Van Praet is an industry best-selling author and globally recognized brand strategist known for pioneering the application of behavioral science to creativity, marketing, and business innovation. His book Unconscious Branding: How Neuroscience Can Empower (and Inspire) Marketing was named one of Inc. Magazine’s “Top Ten Marketing Books.”

He has worked with many of the world’s leading brands, including Apple, Nike, Volkswagen, Toyota, Adobe, and Procter & Gamble, as well as guided fundraising initiatives for global nonprofits such as World Vision, Mercy Ships, and Concern Worldwide. Doug writes regularly for Psychology Today and has contributed to Fast Company.

His insights have been featured in Time, Forbes, BBC News, The Telegraph, The Economic Times, NPR, Business Insider, and Big Think. His strategic leadership has been recognized through top industry honors including CLIO Awards, Cannes Lions, Effies, and the David Ogilvy Gold Award. Doug holds dual B.S. degrees in Advertising and Psychology from Syracuse University and an M.A. in Psychology from Pepperdine University.

Douglas-Van-Praet

Anna Villano

Executive Director, Schools of Brand Communication
Executive Director, School of Graphic Design

Anna Villano is a graphic designer, creative director, educator, and academic leader whose career spans architecture, branding, advertising, digital media, and social strategy. She currently serves as Executive Director of the School of Brand Communication and the School of Graphic Design at Academy of Art University, leading curriculum, faculty initiatives, and industry-focused programs that prepare students for evolving creative careers.

Before moving into academic leadership, Anna held creative roles at FCB, VaynerMedia, Deutsch LA, and Rapp, developing campaigns for Taco Bell, Volkswagen, Microsoft, Neutrogena, Unilever, Toyota, and P&G. At FCB, she helped create Taco Bell’s Doritos Locos Tacos campaign, the brand’s most successful product launch at the time. Later, as a Creative Director at VaynerMedia, she led teams producing innovative social campaigns for globally recognized brands.

Anna previously taught graphic design and digital media at UCLA. She is passionate about helping students develop their creative voices, build professional-level portfolios, and navigate careers across design, branding, advertising, and emerging technology. Her work has received digital design recognition, and she has served as a judge for the American Advertising Awards.

She holds a B.A. in Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley, and an M.F.A. in Media Design and Communications from ArtCenter College of Design.

Anna-Villano

Part-Time Faculty

Sharon Chin

Sharon Chin

Sharon Chin

Sharon Chin

  • Your On-Camera Presence

Position: Part-Time Instructor

Education: BA, Political Science, UC Berkeley
MA, Journalism, Northwestern University

Industry Credits:

Sharon Chin is a reporter and anchor on CBS 5 Eyewitness News. She has covered fires, politics and life-changing stories at KTVL-TV in Medford, Oregon, KSBW-TV in Salinas, KICU and ZDTV News.

Sharon was awarded an Emmy for her feature on the late Charlie Wedemeyer, an inspirational Los Gatos High School football coach. She was named Reporter of the Year by the Associated Press Television-Radio Association of California, and one of her reports was awarded Best Newswriting and Best Investigative Story by the Oregon Associated Press Broadcasters Association.

Sharon Chin

Sharon Chin

Education:

(Master of Science Northwestern University — Journalism)
Joe Fonzi

Joe Fonzi

Joe Fonzi

Joe Fonzi

  • Multiplatform Content Creation
  • Multiplatform Content Live
  • Play by Play – Fall Sports

Position: Part-Time Faculty

Education: BA, Communications, California State University Chico

Industry Credits:

Joe Fonzi is KTVU FOX 2’s weekend sports anchor. He also hosts KTVU’s 49ers Point After and 49ers Total Access which won an Emmy for Outstanding Weekly News Program. Fonzi has interviewed countless sports legends, including football greats, Joe Montana, Steve Young and Jerry Rice. He has also interviewed basketball stars Nate Thurmond, Stephen Curry and David Lee and baseball greats Willie Mays, Willie McCovey and Tim Lincecum.

He worked as a reporter at KHSL TV, Chico, California; KXTV, Sacramento, California; KSBW TV, Salinas-Monterey and then KPIX TV, San Francisco.

Fonzi has been the play-by-play announcer for the Oakland A’s, San Francisco Giants, San Francisco 49ers and UC Berkeley football games. He has been honored by the San Francisco Press Club and has received several UPI (United Press International) awards and two NorCal RTNDA (Radio Television News Directors Association) awards.
Tiffany McElroy

Tiffany McElroy

Tiffany McElroy

Tiffany McElroy

  • In-Depth Project: Studio Entertainment Series

Position: Part-Time Instructor

Education: BA, 19th century History, University of California Los Angeles

Industry Credit:

Tiffany McElroy is a two-time Emmy Award winning television journalist. She worked as an anchor/reporter in New York, Philadelphia, Portland, Chico, Bakersfield and San Francisco. She interviewed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg when she anchored live, the fifth anniversary of the World Trade Center Attacks from Ground Zero. One of the award-winning documentaries she produced and hosted is titled the Legacy of Martin Luther King: 40 years after Memphis.

She interviewed King’s family and friends across three states to learn more about the late Martin Luther King, and she says, decades later he continues to inspire all. Tiffany earned a B.A. degree from UCLA, speaks fluent Italian having lived in Italy for several years and is passionate about mentoring young high school girls. She and her teenage daughter live in Marin where you can find them both hiking, riding horses and taking classes in yoga.

Julian Meyer

Julian Meyer

Education:

Bachelor of Arts, San Francisco State University (San Francisco, California, Art)

Roger Muller

Roger Muller

Education:

Master of Fine Arts, Academy of Art University (San Francisco, California, Advertising)
Manny Ramos

Manny Ramos

Manny Ramos

Manny Ramos

  • Your Media Portfolio: The Resume and Beyond
  • On-Camera Performance for Multiplatform Media

Position: Part-Time Instructor

Education: BA, Journalism, San Jose State University

Industry Credit:

Manny Ramos has more than 30 years’ experience on camera. His work has been honored with nearly 30 awards, including six Emmys, two of them for Best On-Camera Talent.

Manny works with executives and spokespeople to ensure they are prepared and confident, whether being interviewed by reporters, speaking in public, or appearing in front of a camera. His reports have been featured in many national newscasts and shown at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC.

Matt Staudt

Matt Staudt

Education: BA, English/Creative Writing, West Virginia University

Industry Credits:

Matty Staudt launched the University’s UrbanKnightsRadio.com, a student run radio station featured on iHeart Radio. The online station has 70,000 listeners a month. Staudt started as a radio DJ in high school and became at 16, the youngest DJ in West Virginia.

He later served as Executive Producer for the nationally syndicated G Gordon Liddy Show in Washington, DC. He moved on to co-host and executive produce for morning radio at WNEW, New York City. He came to San Francisco to be a Producer/On Air Talent for the #1 rated The Alice Morning Show. Staudt then created the podcast radio app Stitcher Radio which is now the world’s biggest app for on demand talk radio and podcasts. Look for Staudt, as Matti the car (blue car with the microphone) in Pixar’s animated movie, Cars.

Currently, Staudt is a radio consultant for Premiere Radio, the nation’s largest radio syndicator. His clients include Director/Actor Kevin Smith, NFL All Pro Bill Romanowski, and Oscar Winner Jamie Foxx.
Marjorie Sturm

Marjorie Sturm

Marjorie Sturm

Marjorie Sturm

  • Visual Storytelling: Editing
  • Visual Storytelling: Editing for Short-Form Video Content

Position: Part-Time Instructor

Education: BS, Psychology, University of Michigan
MFA, Cinema, San Franciso State University

Industry Credits:

A documentary filmmaker, editor, producer and writer. Her work has been honored with the Jury Award for Best Feature Documentary at the San Francisco Indie Fest, the Grand Festival Award at the Berkeley Film Festival, and premieres at the Sundance Film Festival.

Marjorie has produced six films on women’s issues, travel, and the environment, as well as many video programs for non-profits, corporations and local musicians.
Pam Uzzell

Pam Uzzell

Pam Uzzell

Pam Uzzell

  • Visual Storytelling Production
  • Multiplatform Production: Original Series

Position: Part-Time Instructor

Education: BA. French Literature and Modern Culture/Media, Brown University
MFA, Cinema, San Francisco State University

Industry Credits:

Pam Uzzell is a video producer and editor based in Berkeley, California who has worked on over twenty feature films in post-production as a freelance picture and sound editor.

Her feature film, Unearthing the Dream (2012), won Best Documentary at the Arkansas Black Independent Film Festival as well as an Indie Award of Merit, and was featured on Arkansas Educational Television Network as part of its Independent Producer Series.
Joe Vazquez

Joe Vazquez

Joe Vazquez

Joe Vazquez

  • Creative Writing for the Digit

Position: Part-Time Faculty

Education: BS, Political Science, University of Houston

Industry Credits:

A veteran visual storyteller and National Emmy winner, Joe Vazquez spent more than three decades as a TV reporter covering riots, natural disasters, politics and all sorts of other catastrophes.

In September 2010, Joe and his team at KPIX-TV (CBS San Francisco) were awarded the National Emmy Award for their Breaking News coverage of the Oakland riots following the shooting of Oscar Grant at the hands of a BART policeman. He received other Emmy awards for stories that included coverage of an escaped tiger from the San Francisco Zoo and the major wildfires that devastated the North Bay.

A founder of the Bay Area chapter of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ), Joe has mentored dozens of young journalists through the years.

He lives in San Francisco where he now works as a transparency advisor, consulting with government agencies, teaching them how to better communicate with the public.
Mark Willard

Mark Willard

Mark Willard

Mark Willard

  • Storytelling: From Telephone to Transmedia
  • Social Media Production and Branding

Position: Part-Time Instructor

Education: BA, Journalism, California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo

Industry Credits:

Mark Willard has been on the radio and television airwaves throughout southern California and nationally since 2001. He’s currently heard weekdays Noon-3 on the Mark & Rich Show on XTRA 1360 Fox Sports San Diego and nationwide on Fox Sports Radio weekends. Willard came to Fox after a 6-year run with ESPN LA, hosting his own weekday slot along with former Laker Mychal Thompson.

Willard was also the host of the weekly ESPNLA.com show, “The Forum.” Willard’s career began as a play-by-play announcer. After a year calling football, basketball and baseball games for his alma mater Cal Poly SLO, he spent 2 seasons with the Boise Hawks Single A baseball club in the Angels organization.

Willard’s TV career has blossomed, having appeared as the lead fill-in host of SportsNation on ESPN2. He currently appears as a frequent guest on NBC’s Going Roggin, Time Warner Cable SportsNet’s Top 10 and Fox 11’s Sports Report.