Deborah Morrison is the Chambers Distinguished Professor of Advertising at the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication.

Morrison’s reach in advertising education extends deeply into the advertising industry, focusing on the creative side of agency life. For twenty years, she was the leader of Texas Creative, the creative program of the University of Texas at Austin Department of Advertising. Her students have gone on to careers at leading agencies around the world. Morrison is a strong believer that university programs must address the need for relevant creative advertising education that builds bridges to industry. She teaches conceptual thinking, digital approaches to branding, interactive strategies, and portfolio courses. At Oregon, she and colleagues have developed the Creative Strategist Model for advertising education, based on idea generation and strategic thinking for all career descriptions.

Her research and creative consultancy focuses on creative process in communication professionals, how creative organizations learn and adapt, concepts of teamsmanship and partnership, idea generation, and the place of social responsibility in the creation of strong brand work.

Recent publications include a chapter in Reichert’s Issues in American Advertising (The Copy Workshop, 2007) entitled “Beyond Obligation: Advertising’s Grand Possibility to Do Good” with Glenn Griffin of SMU. She coauthored and edited Idea Industry: How to Crack the Advertising Career Code (One Club Publishing, 2008) with Brett Robbs of UColorado.

Morrison is a member of the Board of Directors for The One Club for Art + Copy in New York, the only university educator to hold that honor. She has judged international student shows for The One Club and regional professional shows for the Addys. She is a consultant and partner with Enviromedia of Austin, Texas in the Greenwashing Index, an assessment of advertising environmental claims.

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