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New agricultural communications leader at IllinoisGifted communicator Lulu Rodriguez isthe new director of the U of I agriculturalcommunications program. She joined thefaculty last fall to lead the innovative dualacademic program offered by the College ofMedia and the College of ACES.Rodriguez brings a strong backgroundin agricultural and rural communicationsin the United States and internationally. Agraduate of the pioneering developmentcommunication program at the University ofthe Philippines in Los Baños, she gained initialexperience communicating with rural familiesabout agricultural research in seven yearswith the applied communications unit ofthe Philippine Council for Agriculture,Forestry and Natural Resources Researchand Development, which is the Philippinesnational research planning and monitoringbody. Her experience there included four yearsas division head.Rodriguez has worked in the United Statessince 1985, when she began graduate studiesin communication at Cornell University.After completing her master’s degree, sheearned a Ph.D. in agricultural journalism/mass communications at the University ofWisconsin.In 1993 she joined the faculty of what isnow the Greenlee School of Journalism andCommunication at Iowa State University,from which she comes to Illinois. Rodriguezserved for eight years as director of graduateeducation and 10 years as head of the visualcommunication emphasis of the journalismand mass communication major. She was alsoinstrumental in developing the proposal forthe school’s first doctoral program.An exceptional educator, Rodriguez wasone of five faculty recognized as MasterTeachers in the College of Liberal Arts andSciences at Iowa State University. The awardhonored her use of unique methods toenhance student learning in courses rangingacross multimedia production, visualcommunication, strategic communication,risk perception and communication, andcommunication research methods. Herdedication and skill in advising students led toher being named 2013 Outstanding Mentorfor LAS graduate students at Iowa State.Rodriguez’s research agenda parallels herteaching endeavors, illuminating how scientificdiscovery is communicated and how citizenscan be informed to make effective decisionsabout complex issues that involve science andrisk. It has included grant-based researchprojects totaling more than $5 million.Rodriguez will have a faculty appointment inthe ACES Department of Natural Resourcesand Environmental Sciences.“Professor Rodriguez brings exceptionalskills in collaborating across disciplines andcultures,” said Jan Slater, dean of the College ofMedia. “She enjoys partnering across diversedisciplines and has provided communicationsexpertise through training activities, consultancies,and other activities involving countriesin nearly every region of the world.”SAC’s 25th anniversaryThe ACES Student AdvancementCommittee is turning 25. Founded bya passionate group of students in1988 to serve as the student branchof the Office of Advancement andAlumni Relations, SAC encouragesphilanthropy, student recruitment,alumni and donor relations, andservice to the college. Each spring,students interview to becomemembers of SAC.22