Wendy Melillo

Wendy Melillo is an associate professor of journalism in the School of Communication at American University in Washington, DC where she teaches journalism writing and history classes. Her scholarship includes research on how persuasive communication and propaganda influence American media and society.

Previously, Wendy worked as a journalist. She was a staff writer for The Washington Post, where she earned a Pulitzer Prize nomination and an award presented by President Bill Clinton from the White House Correspondents’ Association for her coverage of the 1992 United Way scandal. While at The Washington Post, she also won awards for her reporting on health and nutrition.

For nearly a decade, Wendy was the Washington, DC bureau chief and senior writer for Adweek, where she covered product and political advertising, marketing, public relations, and regulation. Wendy’s articles, essays and opinion columns have been published in Adweek, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, The Conversation, History News Network, MediaPost, and The Washington Post. Her research has been published in the academic journals American Journalism and Journalism History. The first edition of her book, How McGruff and the Crying Indian Changed America: A History of Iconic Ad Council Campaigns — published by Smithsonian Books in 2013 — is now in its second printing.