John Ellerbach

Biography

John Ellerbach spent the last three years as a full-time writer and avid gardener, living in the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina near Bryson City. During that time, he wrote and published a four-volume parody of “House of Cards,” a satire of scholarly research, a humorous account of what the future holds for the National Football League, and a two-volume novel about growing up as an eighth-grader in Wisconsin in the late 60s. His most recent publication is a textbook: Public Relations Cases for Analysis and Action. He joins Purdue this year as a visiting assistant professor in the Brian Lamb School of Communication.

 

Experience

Dr. Ellerbach has taught at several universities, including 11 years in Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education schools (IUP and Shippensburg). At Shippensburg, he created the school’s first course in Independent Film-Making, and he and his students wrote and produced three full-length feature films that were showcased at various film festivals.

 

Publications and Presentations

Dr. Ellerbach’s doctoral dissertation focused on the teaching of advertising ethics. Among his journal articles is “The Advertorial as Information Pollution,” published in the Journal of Information Ethics. Before earning his doctorate at age 35, he taught eighth grade at Colegio Roosevelt in Lima, Peru, worked as a magazine writer and radio journalist in Wisconsin and served as Director of Public Relations for the Iowa Hospital Association for three years.