Deb Morrison is the SOJC Associate Dean for Undergraduate Affairs, a role that compels her to consider what we teach and how we inspire. She believes in the beautiful craft, compelling stories, and useful scholarship our SOJC students and faculty give to the world. Her books include The Creative Process Illustrated: How Advertising’s Big Ideas are Born (2010) with Glenn Griffin and Idea Industry: How to Crack the Advertising Career Code with Brett Robbs (2009). Brave Work on the Age of Climate Change: A Creative's Guide to Advertising and Brand Messages in Complicated Times will be published in 2025.

Morrison leverages the conceptual and critical skills of the idea industry to work on addressing social and cultural issues. She and other SOJC faculty members created Science & Memory, an experiential learning platform for stories of change around the complex issues of environment and climate change. The project has been awarded the University of Oregon Innovation and Impact Research Award in 2015, as well as a shortlisted film at New York's One Film Festival and multiple national Hearst and One Show creative awards. Students and faculty in the program bridge science communication, reporting, and creative projects to better understand how to engage audiences for climate action.

With SOJC Professor Emerita Kim Sheehan, Morrison created the SOJC Master's in Advertising and Brand Responsibility, a professional graduate program dedicated to developing advertising talent in new ways. The MABR program builds scholarship and skills to help brands and agencies address social issues of the day with authenticity, courage, and a dedication to social good.

Morrison was the director of the SOJC advertising program from 2006-2021. She was awarded the 2018 American Advertising Academy Sandage Award for Distinguished Teaching, the 2015 winner of the AEJMC Distinguished Teaching Award, and is a two-time winner of the SOJC Marshall Award for Innovative Teaching (2008 and 2009). She was named a Grandmaster of The Art Directors Club in New York in 2009 and served on the board of The One Club for Creativity—the first educator to serve on that professional board—for 2004-2009. She’s spoken at SXSW, HOW Design Conference, Google, 72U, TedX UOregon, and various professional venues focused on creativity and talent. She has served on international juries for the Art Directors Club and The One Show as well as regional advertising awards shows for the Addys. Previously, she was director of Texas Creative at The University of Texas at Austin Department of Advertising and a member of that faculty.

In fall 2024, she will be inducted into The One Club for Creativity Educator Hall of Fame in New York, the first public university professor to receive this honor.

Morrison is active in allyship and action work to support diversity in the advertising industry and at the University. Moreover, she believes in the power of building community to foster true inclusion and space for students to thrive. 

in the past few years, Morrison has leveraged her understanding of creativity to address the climate emergency. She has spoken at venues in Sweden, Ghana, New York, the United Nations, the Smithsonian, and at SXSW in Austin about the responsibility of the advertising industry to use its formidable power to address climate issues. Her book, Brave Work in the Age of Climate Change, will be published in 2025. She has completed the Climate Reality Leadership Training founded and directed by former Vice-President Al Gore. She believes the creative industry possesses the critical, conceptual, and creative skills needed to bring awareness and action to this issue, thereby resolving that creativity can save the world.

Instagram: @debkmorrison

• PhD, University of Texas at Austin
• MA, University of Texas at Austin
• BJ, Sam Houston State University

• The Creative Strategist
• Brand Responsibility
• Portfolio Development
• Green Brand Strategy
• Campaigns
• NYC Experience
• Science & Memory

Morrison’s research interests include the creative process in creative professionals, creative organizations, teamsmanship, and creative training grounds in the advertising industry. Her most recent work focuses on the intersection of creative professionalism and the climate emergency.

• Advertising creativity
• Brand development
• Creativity and creative process
• Advertising as catalyst for change
• Climate communication strategies