Cory Armstrong, Ph.D., became the associate dean for research and faculty affairs at University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s College of Journalism and Mass Communications on July 15, 2022. Armstrong has also been appointed as a full professor in journalism, is the Lawrence L. and Ruth E. Pike Professor in Journalism and the College's Diversity Officer.  She teaches classes in theory, methods and the capstone classes in the CoJMC graduate program.

Armstrong has secured grants totaling more than $230,000 to study media messaging and severe weather in both the mid-south and southeastern United States. Armstrong’s research combines traditional and emerging media and focuses on how individuals use media to make decisions during weather events. Her studies highlight the often unmet evacuation and safety needs of vulnerable populations during weather emergencies— specifically floods, hurricanes and tornados. She has 50 peer-reviewed publications appearing in such journals as Journalism & Mass Communications Quarterly, Digital Journalism, Communication Research and the Journal of Risk Research, among others.

She is currently involved in three grant-funded projects: 1) public discussion of drought with researchers in the College of Public Health at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and the National Drought Mitigation Center; 2) Strategies about discussion of flooding along the Mississippi-Alabama Gulf Coast; and 3) a Grand Challenge planning grant to develop a Climate Resiliency Center in Nebraska.

Previously, Armstrong was a professor in the Department of Journalism & Creative Media at the University of Alabama, where she served as department chair from 2016 to 2021. Before joining the University of Alabama, Armstrong held positions as professor and director of the Mayborn School of Journalism at the University of North Texas and graduate coordinator and associate professor in the College of Journalism and Communications at the University of Florida.

Armstrong holds a bachelor’s degree from Miami University, a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in mass communications from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She also worked as a journalist for 10 years before returning to academics.