Sheri Jan Broyles, 66, of Argyle, Professor Emerita who created innovative programs at the Mayborn School of Journalism and helped students launch advertising careers, died Aug. 9.

She worked for a symphony orchestra and wrote for an advertising agency before pursuing a career in academics, coming to UNT in 1996 before retiring in 2020. Her passion for teaching earned her the Scripps Howard Teacher of the Year award from the Scripps Howard Foundation and UNT’s J.H. Shelton Excellence in Teaching prize. She founded SWOOP, the UNT advertising agency in which students manage accounts to gain real-world experience. Known as “Dr. B,” she also took students to New York City for a Maymester class, giving them tours of advertising agencies and taking them to Broadway shows.

Broyles served as vice president and president of the Faculty Senate and co-founded the Women’s Faculty Network Steering Committee. She presented a TEDxUNT talk on creativity in 2017.

She was active in the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, co-coordinating the Advertising Division Pre-Conference Teaching Workshop for 12 years, which earned her the Outstanding Service Award; sitting on and chairing the AEJMC Elected Standing Committee on Teaching; and receiving a grant and travel visa to Cuba as inaugural Senior Scholar. She also was recognized as a Most Promising Multicultural Student Nominator by the American Advertising Federation Mosaic Center.

Her research, published in numerous journals, covered creativity in personalities and portfolios, and explored women in creative departments at ad agencies and subliminal advertising.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in music performance (percussion) and a master’s degree in journalism, both from the University of Missouri, and a doctorate in psychology from Southern Methodist University, earning her the title of “Renaissance woman.” She loved dogs, traveling, baseball, Broadway shows and watching her children play in sports.

An endowed scholarship, The Sheri J. Broyles (Dr. B) Advertising Scholarship, has been created in her honor to support advertising students in the Mayborn School of Journalism.

A Celebration of a Life of Service begins at 4:30 p.m. Oct. 20 in the Gateway Center Ballroom on campus.