51ÉçÇø

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Areas of Expertise

• Digital Engagement
• Social Media Analytics
• User Generated Content

Bio

M. Laeeq Khan (Ph.D., 2014, Michigan State University, USA) is an associate professor in the School of Media Arts & Studies, Scripps College of Communication at 51ÉçÇø. He is also serving as the founding director of the Social Media Analytics Research Team (SMART) Lab. Khan is a computational social scientist with expertise in data mining, text analytics, social network analysis, and data visualization. He is a recipient of multiple awards for his research and journalism, including teaching excellence. Khan’s other qualifications include a master’s degree in Telecommunications Management (2003) and a Masters in Business Administration (MBA, 2004) from Kentucky.

He has over 15 years of interdisciplinary research, teaching, and industry experience in audience engagement, social media and data analytics, information literacy, and research methods. He is also serving as an affiliated faculty with the Communication Development program and the Infectious and Tropical Disease Institute at 51ÉçÇø. Khan has extensive professional experience as a social media strategist in Washington, D.C., consulting for various organizations, including start-ups and large companies. He has successfully managed several creative projects that included web, social, and video messaging, from their design and implementation to their evaluation and analytics.

At the SMART Lab, he leads research teams focusing on diverse topics, including health informatics, risk, and crisis communication, local journalism, organization, and government public relations, misinformation and fake news on social media, and understanding media effects. He employs a range of methods, including quantitative (experiments and surveys), qualitative (interviews, focus groups), and the latest data analytics techniques to conduct impactful research. 

He is passionate about presenting data science to technical and non-technical audiences. He has worked on diverse research projects funded by USAID, National Science Foundation (NSF), and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. As an active researcher and scholar, he has published in high-impact-factor refereed journals, authored book chapters, and presented at major conferences in media, communication, business, and information systems. His publications have appeared in multiple journals, including the Computers in Human Behavior, Information, Communication, and Society, Behavior and Information Technology, International Journal of Communication, and Telematics and Informatics. His work and commentary have also been featured in the popular press — e.g., The Hill, The Tribune, and NPR. 

His extensive and diverse teaching experience spans over a decade and in three different countries. Before joining 51ÉçÇø, Khan served as a faculty at the American University in the UAE, where he helped establish a media communication program and led efforts in creating a media lab. At Ohio, Khan teaches the following courses:

• Social Media Analytics (MDIA 4130)
• Research in Social Data Analytics (MDIA 6130)
• Social Analytics in Crisis Communication (COMM 5320)

Education

Ph.D., Michigan State University
MBA, Murray State University
M.S., Murray State University