Rebecca Ortiz

Rebecca Ortiz’s research explores how we can use media and communication to improve public health and well-being, with specific focus on sexual health communication, sexual violence prevention, vaccine promotion and youth/young adult audiences. Her work is published in such peer-reviewed journals as Journal of Health Communication, Violence Against Women, Journal of Adolescent Health, Journal of School Violence, Social Media + Society and Journal of Children and Media, among others. She has also worked with several non-profit and public health organizations to develop and evaluate health communication campaigns and media interventions to address such topics as HPV vaccination and sexual violence. 

She is the 2024 recipient of the Judy 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. 

She joined the Newhouse School faculty in 2016 from the College of Media and Communication at Texas Tech, where she was the recipient of the Billy I. Ross Faculty Achievement Award and the President’s Excellence in Teaching Award. At Newhouse, she teaches research and communication strategy to advertising and communications students. She also leads Newhouse’s Future Professoriate Program which is a professional development program for doctoral students to help them excel as teachers and scholars in higher education.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in mass communication from Virginia Commonwealth University, a master’s in media studies from the Newhouse School and a Ph.D. in mass communication from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.