Jennifer George-Palilonis

Jennifer George-Palilonis, Associate Professor of Journalism,
George and Frances Ball Distinguished Professor of Multimedia Journalism
Department of Journalism

Educational Background
PhD. Informatics/Human-Computer Interaction, Indiana University,
Purdue University Indianapolis
M.A. Journalism, Ball State University, 2004
B.A. Sociology, Ball State University, 1996

Professional Experience
Palilonis is the journalism graphics sequence coordinator. She teaches upper level courses in information graphics reporting, interface design and multimedia storytelling. As a leader in Ball State’s nationally recognized program, Palilonis helps make curriculum decisions for the sequence and department; serves the department, college and university on various committees; and works directly with students to obtain internships and realize their full potential as visual journalists. Palilonis frequently leads special topics courses that partner students with professional organizations. Past projects include collaborations with Circle of Blue (www.circleofblue.org), the Indiana State Museum (www.indianamuseum.org), and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel (www.sun-sentinel.com).

Her fields of professional specialization are multimedia storytelling, visual journalism, page design, information graphics reporting, art direction, redesign, visual rhetoric, composition, electronic learning, collaborative learning, animation, digital publishing, research-informed design and development, human-computer interaction, and interactive interface design.

After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in journalism in 1996, Palilonis worked as a news and business designer at Detroit Free-Press (1996-1998). She was also the Sunday art director and deputy news design editor at the Chicago Sun-Times (1998-2001). Palilonis has been an adjunct instructor at Wayne State University in Detroit and later at the International Academy for Merchandising and Design in Chicago. Palilonis is a media design consultant and affiliate with Garcia Media. She has worked on the redesigns of more than 30 print and online publications since 2000.

Research/Creative/Publication Interests
Palilonis views teaching and research to be equally important roles in the Department of Journalism. She conducts research in the areas of multimedia storytelling, print and online design, graphics reporting, blended learning models, and information graphics.

Research/Creative/Publication Career Highlights
Palilonis is the author of two textbooks: A Practical Guide to Graphics Reporting (Focal Press, 2006) and The Multimedia Journalist (Oxford University Press, 2011).

She has developed three major interactive multimedia books, including Design Interactive, an etext on basic design principles; and Visualizing Electricity & Magnetism, an interactive set of visualizations used in 100-level electricity and magnetism courses at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

She has published ten refereed publications and has presented numerous professional and creative endeavors at more than 30 conferences and meetings. She is the education director for the Society for News Design and the former head of the Visual Communications division of the Association for Educators in Journalism and Mass Communication.

Palilonis received Ball State’s College of Communication, Information, and Media High Technology award and was named the CCIM Researcher of the Year in 2010. She was also a nominee (2009) and a finalist (2007) for the Ball State University Outstanding Teaching Award.

Thesis/Creative Project Experience and Philosophy
Palilonis has been a thesis committee chair for five master’s students’ theses. She has been a thesis committee member for two projects.