Dr. Sara Steffes-Hansen joined the department as an assistant professor in strategic communication in fall 2009. Hansen completed her Ph.D. in journalism at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where her research focused on brands in social media. She has a master's degree in business administration (MBA) from the University of Colorado-Denver and a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.

Steffes-Hansen has presented at conferences for the International Communication Association, American Academy of Advertising and the Association of Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, and will be presenting this fall for the conference of the Association of Internet Researchers. Her research has appeared in the Journal of Marketing Communications and Journal of Interactive Advertising.

She has 15 years of professional experience as a director, manager and consultant in strategic communication, largely with high-tech and Fortune 500 companies. For several years, she worked in the Denver area as a marketing consultant for J.D. Edwards (now Oracle Corp.), Director of Marketing and Corporate Communications at CIBER, Inc., and Media Relations Manager for Kinder Morgan, Inc. Locally, she worked as a consultant and Director of Marketing for an IT services company, Oracular. She started her career as a reporter and state news editor for the Marshfield News-Herald in Marshfield, Wis., and as an account executive for a Denver-based financial public relations firm.

Steffes-Hansen has taught Principles of Public Relations since 2003 as an adjunct instructor. She also co-taught the National Student Advertising Competition in 2004 and 2005, and Introduction to Journalism and Mass Communication in 2007.

Office: Clow 106D -- Phone: 424-7147 -- E-mail: hansen@uwosh.edu