BATON ROUGE- LSU has named Professor Martin Johnson dean of the Manship School of Mass Communication effective July 1, according to a release from the school.

Johnson is the associate dean for graduate studies and research for the Manship School and the holder of the Kevin P. Reilly Sr. Chair in Political Communications.

The Manship School of Mass Communication offers undergraduate education in journalism, public relations, digital advertising, and political communication, as well as the only graduate program in the U.S. in media and public affairs.

The release states that LSU initiated the Manship School dean's search in August 2017 after dean Jerry Ceppos announced his retirement.

“Dr. Johnson’s scholarly work coupled with his passion to advance mass communication education made him the ideal candidate at this critical junction for the Manship School,” said Rick Koubek, executive vice president and provost. “I look forward to working with him to advance the mission of the Manship School.”

Johnson studied media, politics, public opinion, political psychology and public policy. His book, “Changing Minds or Changing Channels: Partisan News in an Age of Choice” (2013, University of Chicago Press, with Kevin Arceneaux), uses novel experiments to investigate how the choices viewers make shape the influence of partisan news. It was co-winner of the 2014 Goldsmith Book Prize awarded by the Harvard Kennedy School Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Public Policy.

For more information about the Manship School of Mass Communication, click here.