May 15, 2026 1. What first drew you to filmmaking and production, and how did that evolve into your current role today? Ever since I was a kid, I told people, “I want to make movies,” before I even knew what that meant or how that would even be possible. All I knew is that […]
Get to know some of our College of Media alumni. Rosie Powers (BS ‘12, journalism) is a self-employed consultant. Powers also participated in a Media Career Night alumni panel on “Nonprofits” in Spring 2022. Watch a recording of the session here. How did the College of Media prepare you for your future?The college had great […]
Get to know some of our College of Media alumni. Adam Hamilton (BS ’11, advertising; MBA ’19) is a global social and digital director at McDonald’s. Hamilton also participated in a Media Career Night alumni panel on “Digital Communication” in Spring 2023. Watch a recording of the session here. Can you recall any College of […]
Get to know some of our College of Media alumni. Bianca Flowers (BS ’13, journalism) is a global race and justice correspondent at Reuters. What experiences motivated you to choose Illinois?Growing up on the west side of Chicago, I took inspiration from my favorite news anchors and I had always had an affinity for storytelling. […]
Get to know some of our College of Media alumni. Joe Hercik (BS ‘04, advertising) is a product owner for the Quantum Computing team at State Farm’s Innovation Group. Hercik also participated in a Media Career night alumni panel on “Corporate Communication” in Fall 2023. Watch a recording of the session here. Why did you […]
Get to know some of our College of Media alumni. Mike Dalton (BS’ 12, journalism) is currently a programmatic sales director with Raptive. Dalton also participated in a Media Career Night alumni panel on “Sales and Retail Communication” in Spring 2024. Watch a recording of the session here. What brought you to the College of Media at […]
Get to know some of our College of Media alumni. Isabel Morales (BS ’13, journalism) is the media relations manager at The Nature Conservancy. Morales also participated in a Media Career Night alumni panel on “Nonprofits” in Spring 2022. Watch a recording of the session here. Why did you major in journalism and how has it influenced […]
Get to know some of our College of Media alumni. Steven Pratten (BS ’15, media and cinema studies) is a senior digital media manager at the Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Pratten also participated in a Media Career Night alumni panel on “Digital Communication” in Spring 2023. Watch a recording of the […]
Get to know some of our College of Media alumni. Grace Chen (MS ’10 advertising) is a product manager at Meta. When did you know that you wanted to study advertising?As a child, I remember being very fascinated with old catalog ads. Throughout my childhood, a lot of advertising consisted of subscription-based magazines and order […]
Mike Vainisi (BS ’08, journalism) is head of original content at ATTN:. In Spring 2022, he was part of a Media Career Night alumni panel that discussed working in entertainment and Hollywood. (Watch the recording.) How did you go about picking journalism as your major? As someone who loved writing in high school, journalism was a great […]