BYU’s School of Communications is pleased to announce the appointment of Kevin John as an assistant professor, starting this fall. With that full-time position, John will also continue his current role as Director of the Eye-Tracking Lab.Being no stranger to BYU or its communications program, John is excited to interact more with the students and give back to his alma mater.
“I feel indebted to the School of Communications for the variety of experiences and wonderful people I have had the opportunity to interact with over the past 10 years. I feel this is a chance to truly give back—not only to the school, but also to the students for years to come.”
John attended BYU as an undergraduate and received a bachelor’s degree in communications with a public relations emphasis. He then continued on at BYU and received his master’s degree in mass communications.
“I chose to study communications initially because of my fascination with the interplay between media, the public and business,” said John. “As I went further into my education, I also grew to love the freedom that typically follows the study of communications. There are literally thousands of lines of research that are applicable to this one area of study.”
After college, John worked in Washington D.C. for a small public relations firm that helped with publicity efforts for military vehicles. He also worked for the Waterford Institute, an educational software company based in Salt Lake City.
“My interest now is in health communication, where I spend my time while finishing my PhD, designing campaigns to convince individuals to get screened for cancer and doing research to develop more effective training methods to help people screen themselves for melanoma and skin cancer,” explained John.
In addition to his time in the corporate world, John brings with him experience as an adjunct university instructor. For the past three years, he has divided his time between teaching at BYU and the University of Utah. He currently teaches advertising and PR methods, but he has also taught courses in strategic communications and research methods.
John hopes to instill a passion for learning in his students. He is a firm believer that there are no bad students, only disinterested ones, and he hopes that he will be able to facilitate an open and empowering environment.
John’s advice to students: “Whatever you are doing in life, be passionate about it, and really put your whole self into it. Don’t settle for going through the grind every day, but really try to reach inside yourself and go out of your way to be happy and to help others. Doing so on a regular basis will totally change your perspective on life. This was perhaps the most important lesson I took away from BYU—to approach everything with passion.”
In his free time, John enjoys video games, photography, target shooting, motorcycle riding and spending time with his family. He currently lives in West Jordan with his wife, Hillery, and their two girls.