Ask Lisa Parcell about what matters most in her classroom, and she won’t point to grades or lectures. She’ll tell you it’s mentorship — helping students find their footing as communicators, researchers and professionals. Parcell’s student-centered focus, along with her leadership and scholarship, earned Parcell the Kansas Board of Regents’ Tenured Faculty of the Year award.
Parcell — Kansas Health Foundation Director of the Elliott School of Communication and professor of communication — who was promoted to full professor earlier this year, said she was surprised and honored to receive the award.
“We have some remarkable faculty at WSU who do all kinds of amazing things,” Parcell said. “I hope we continue to take advantage of opportunities like the KBOR awards to give our faculty the recognition they deserve.”
The award recognizes faculty across Kansas who demonstrate excellence in teaching, research and service. Parcell’s portfolio includes leadership at Wichita State, nationally recognized scholarship in media history, and a passion for guiding students into their careers and academic futures.
Building on history
Parcell has built a national reputation for her research in media history, especially the power of early advertising and public relations. She studies how century-old food brands — such as Hershey’s, Gold Medal Flour, Kellogg’s and PET Milk — used homemaking magazines and radio in the early 1900s to influence generations of consumers.
“Most people today don’t remember seeing ads for these products, yet they still buy the same brands their mother or grandmother did,” Parcell said. “To me, that shows the incredible power of advertising and public relations.”
Her current work compares the chocolate empires of Milton Hershey in the United States and John Cadbury in England. Both men, Quakers with a vision for social reform, launched milk chocolate bars and company towns that shaped workers’ lives as much as consumer taste. Parcell plans to continue that project during her spring sabbatical, when she will study archives in Bournville, England.
Inspiring confidence in students
Parcell’s influence is equally strong in the classroom. She teaches courses across the Elliott School, including the Integrated Marketing Communication Campaigns capstone, where students develop full promotional campaigns from concept to completion.
“It’s fun to watch a group of students realize they have the tools they need to succeed in this profession,” she said. “I believe in them from the beginning, but by the end of the semester, they believe in themselves.”
She also teaches a graduate course, Historical Methods, which often surprises students.
“It’s fun to watch students who ‘hate history’ at the beginning of the semester learn to love it and tell me they ‘didn’t realize history could be so much fun.’”
Leadership and mentorship
In July, Parcell was appointed director of the Elliott School of Communication, where she oversees programs and faculty. She’s also continuing as director of The Research Partnership, which is a marketing research company within the Elliott School. She previously served as graduate coordinator, a role she said reinforced the importance of mentorship in preparing the next generation of scholars.
“The tools and platforms will change many times over a communication career, but if students understand strategy, they will be successful,” she said. “And for those pursuing academia, the best service we can provide is mentorship to help them navigate the culture and changes ahead.”
Parcell said she hopes her legacy will be one of both rigor and relatability.
“As a teacher, I’d like students to say that I believed in them until they could believe in themselves,” she said. “And in my research, I’d like people to read it because it’s fun; and in the process, realize the long-term power of promotional campaigns.”
About Wichita State University
Wichita State University is Kansas' only urban public research university, enrolling more than 25,000 students between its main campus and the WSU Campus of Applied Sciences and Technology (WSU Tech), including students from every state in the U.S. and more than 100 countries. Wichita State and WSU Tech are recognized for being student-centered and innovation-driven.
Located in the largest city in the state with one of the highest concentrations in the United States of jobs involving science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), Wichita State University provides uniquely distinctive and innovative pathways of applied learning, applied research and career opportunities for all of our students. The National Science Foundation ranked WSU No. 1 in the nation for aerospace engineering R&D, No. 2 for industry-funded engineering R&D and No. 8 overall for engineering R&D.
The Innovation Campus, which is a physical extension of the Wichita State University main campus, is one of the nation’s largest and fastest-growing research/innovation parks, encompassing over 120 acres and is home to a number of global companies and organizations.
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