Mel White is a professor of practice at Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications where she teaches creative advertising and art direction in Newhouse’s undergraduate and graduate programs.

When Mel attended Syracuse University as a creative advertising student, the Art Direction and Copywriting programs were in different colleges. During her industry years in NYC, Mel dreamed of one day going back to her alma mater and finding ways for Syracuse University art director and copywriter students to work together in creative teams to create award-winning work. With a move to reside all creative advertising in the Newhouse school a few years before her arrival as a faculty member, Mel has been able to begin fulfilling her dream of developing student creative teams capable of producing breakthrough award-winning work and work with colleagues to build the Newhouse program into a nationally recognized creative advertising juggernaut.

Overseeing a significant increase in the number of Newhouse creative advertising students winning awards, most recently Mel supervised a student creative team to a Cannes Future Lions win and has been instrumental in helping students to award wins at the One Show Young Ones, ADC, Communication Arts, Lurzers International Archive, Creativity International, ADDYs, Ads of the World, and Graphis New Talent. Mel developed a Mentor Program that pairs student creative teams with award-winning creative directors from several of the world’s top ad agencies. She also created the first NYC Newhouse Portfolio Review, which continues annually. So far, the track record has been 100% employment with many program graduates going to top ad agencies, including Wieden+Kennedy, Anomaly, BBDO, McCann, and TBWA\Chiat\Day. Mel also has a goal of creating powerful, bold, and innovative female creatives that one day will increase the percentage of female creative leadership in ad agencies.

Prior to her foray into advertising academia, Mel put in more than 25 years of advertising experience – the last 17 of those years in New York City as a Creative Director/Art Director at Young & Rubicam, Ogilvy, Publicis, and DMB&B. She has worked on a range of accounts from packaged goods to technology on many high-profile brands such as Microsoft, Land Rover, MINI Cooper, Crest, Dannon, American Express, Lea & Perrins, Miller, Xerox, Dell, Sony, Bounty, Green Mountain Coffee, Hillshire Farm, Old El Paso, Cellular South, Sleep Number, Fisher-Price, Capitol One, Always, Pillsbury, Swiffer, UNCF and Search Dog Foundation. She has big pitch experience for national brands such as Famous Footwear, Sleep Number, Ameriprise Financial, Transitions Lenses, and Earthlink and has been instrumental in winning pitches for new accounts — most notably at Young & Rubicam and Ogilvy.

Having won several industry awards, Mel excels at creating strong visual solutions, and focuses on that in her student instruction.