Profile

Rhiannon Clifton

Program Director

Bio

Rhiannon Clifton is the program director in Charles H. Sandage Department of Advertising at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She teaches for the Department and is a Faculty Fellow in Entrepreneurship with the Academy for Entrepreneurial Leadership at Illinois. Professor Clifton graduated from the University of Illinois with a BS in Advertising, and earned her MBA from Salem International University with a concentration in International Business in 2010.

Professor Clifton was the Assistant Director of the Technology Entrepreneur Center in the College of Engineering at Illinois before joining the Advertising Department. She joined the TEC’s staff in 2005, and was responsible for the development and implementation of programs, policies, procedures and objectives of the Center and its role in promoting technology entrepreneurship to students and faculty within the College of Engineering and across the Illinois campus. Rhiannon also led curriculum development for the Center, and was an instructor for the TEC’s High Tech Venture Marketing course.

Professor Clifton is interested in audience analysis, the future of the advertising industry and entrepreneurship in media. She creates and directs experiential and professional development programs, including Media University, Digital Advertising Workshops, Study Abroad, the PR Certificate Program, and Professional Development Certificate programs for the Charles H. Sandage Department of Advertising. During her tenure at Starcom and StarLink (now Spark Communications), Rhiannon and her team were recognized for innovation in media and won several awards including an SMG Fuel Award, and Media Magazine’s "Media Plan of the Year."