Judges

WCET offers sincere thanks to this esteemed panel of judges who volunteered their time and expertise to us in judging this competition.

Libby Morse is an advertising and conceptual strategy expert with more than 25 years of experience in the communications field. She has written a wide range of materials for the Library of Congress, Alliance for Justice, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Smithsonian Institution, the Milwaukee Art Museum, the Newberry Library, University of California Santa Cruz, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Ford Foundation, The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, Chicago Children's Museum, Museum of Science and Industry, Vanderbilt University, RAND Corporation, the John G. Shedd Aquarium, the Chapin Hall Center for Children, the Urban Institute, Minnesota State Colleges and Universities, the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, the College Board (Young Epidemiology Scholars Competition), the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Dayton Philharmonic, and the University of Chicago and its affiliates.

Libby joined Lipman Hearne from DDB Needham Worldwide-Chicago. As an associate creative director, she wrote national and regional television, radio, and print campaigns for General Mills, Clorox, Anheuser-Busch, and Hasbro. For Ramada Inns, she wrote an award-winning series of training films starring John Madden.

Libby is also a children's books reviewer for Publishers Weekly. She has a B.A. in English from the University of Chicago and has completed graduate work in drama at University of Virginia.

Jim Fong is President of Diagnostics Plus, a market research company specializing in education, as well as business-to-business research. Jim leads the education and telecommunications sector research efforts for the company. For colleges and universities, he heads a team that conducts market and program feasibility testing, alumni needs studies, campus physical plant satisfaction research, competitive analyses, marketing organizational structure analyses and customer service audits. He also authored "The Future Online Learner's" report.

Diagnostics Plus employs eighteen research professionals and is located in State College, Pennsylvania. Jim recently published "Marketing Distance Education: Strategy and Context," which was released in the International Handbook of Distance Education in March of 2008.

Jim is also an instructor at Penn State University and Duquesne University where he teaches a variety of graduate and undergraduate marketing and market research courses. He is currently teaching marketing courses through Penn State's online MBA program. Over the past fifteen years, he has taught over forty for-credit undergraduate and graduate courses online or in the classroom.

Prior to joining Diagnostics Plus in 2005, Jim was the director of marketing research and planning for Penn State Outreach. In his eight years with Penn State, he managed a staff of fifty marketing strategists, planners, researchers, designers, e-marketers, and enrollment analysts. In 2004, the University Continuing Education Association recognized him with one of its highest honors- the Adelle Robertson Professional Continuing Educator Award.

Prior to joining Penn State, Jim served as president of a New England-based market research firm, director of research for a marketing and advertising firm, and director of analysis for a top twenty international research firm, Opinion Research Corporation/Macro International.

He earned a B.S. in mathematics, M.S. in statistics, and an M.B.A. from the University of Vermont. He resides in State College, Pennsylvania with his wife and three children.

Rex Whisman is founder and principal for the BrandED consultants group. (www.BrandEDus.net) As the former assistant vice chancellor for communications and marketing at the University of Denver, Rex led one the nation's most ground-breaking approaches to educational brand development. Currently, Rex helps colleges and universities develop sustainable brands. He is also a personal brand coach and the author of the Brand Champions Blog. (www.brandchampionsblog.com). Rex is a recognized expert in branding and presents at state, national and international conferences and seminars in Australia, Canada, Europe and the United States. Rex is a member of the Academy of Marketing and the American Marketing Association.

BrandED consultants have played lead roles in branding and marketing efforts for many organizations including: Academic Visions, Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies, Colorado State University System, Denver Catholic Schools System, Extended Studies in the State of Colorado, Holocaust Portfolio, Metropolitan State College of Denver, Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, North Carolina Randolph Community College, Rocky Mountain College of Art & Design, San Antonio Catholic Schools System, University of Dallas, and University of Denver.

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