Margaret E. Duffy

Professor of Strategic Communication and Executive Director of the Novak Leadership Institute

Duffy is known for leading from the front and staying ahead of the curve. Now Founding Executive Director of Novak Leadership Institute, she led the effort to obtain a $21.6 million gift to endow the Institute from David Novak, alumnus of the Missouri School of Journalism advertising program and retired CEO of YUM! Brands (Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and KFC). The institute benefits future leaders—both students AND leaders around the state of Missouri. Until 2016, she chaired the Strategic Communication Faculty at the Missouri School of Journalism and grew the program from approximately 180 undergraduates in 2003 to almost 600 today, almost half the students in the J-School. She led curriculum reform in the Strategic Communication program to develop new models to better prepare students for the changing media world. The program has become a world leader in health and pro-social communication research. She also served as associate dean for graduate studies, and she directed the Missouri School of Journalism’s Online Master’s Program from 2001-2016. A former marketing executive, Duffy is the founder of two student-staffed fee-based ad agencies, AdZou and Mojo Ad, specializing in the youth market for major brands. An award-winning scholar, her research focuses on leadership, organizational communication, visual communication and persuasion ethics. An author and consultant, Duffy conducts research and advises media companies and brands around the world with clients as varied as Estee Lauder and the U.S. Army.