Rebecca Ortiz Named Next Newhouse Endowed Chair of Public Communications 

Rebecca Ortiz, an award-winning associate professor of advertising, has been named the Newhouse Endowed Chair of Public Communications for 2025-28. The position is bestowed to a distinguished faculty member whose accomplishments significantly advance the school’s reputation in research and creative activity.  

Ortiz’s research explores how media and communication can improve public health and well-being, with a focus on sexual health communication, sexual violence prevention, and youth and young adult audiences. 

Ortiz’s appointment was announced in early March. As endowed chair, Ortiz will work on her project, “Youth Well-Being in the Creator Economy,” which will explore the experiences of youth online content creators and uncover the challenges and opportunities they face in the current online creator economy.  

Insights from the work will be shared across various outlets to help youth navigate the online creator economy safely and effectively, while also informing policymakers and social media platforms about the impact of their policies on youth creators. 

Ortiz is the 2024 recipient of the Judith Seinfeld Scholar Award, which honors Syracuse University faculty and students who display excellence, creativity and innovation in academic or artistic fields and encourages future contributions to society.  

Ortiz recently served as co-editor for  “Teens, Sex, and Media Effects: Understanding Media’s Influence on Adolescent Sexuality, Sexual Health, and Advocacy,” a book featuring original empirical research about how the current media landscape shapes adolescent sexuality, including their identity development, romantic and sexual relationships, and sexual health.  

A member of the Newhouse faculty since 2016, Ortiz has been published in peer-reviewed journals including Journal of Health Communication, Violence Against Women and Journal of Adolescent Health. 

Charisse L’Pree, associate professor of communications, is concluding her three-year term as the Newhouse Endowed Chair. L’Pree focused her tenure on creating the “Make America Dream” project.  

Formally launched last fall during an event at the Hergenhan Auditorium, the interactive website and multimedia project highlights the breadth and diversity of goals and aspirations of Americans, while also seeking to inspire users to keep dreaming.