Department History
The study of communication at College Park is as old as the institution itself.
History of the Department of Communication
The first students in the Maryland Agricultural College faced requirements in rhetoric, elocution and declamation throughout the course of their degree. By 1901 a Department of Public Speaking was in place and, for nearly four decades, the department emphasized public speaking and public address in its course offerings. Beginning in the late 1930s, however, courses were added in other subjects related to spoken discourse. For example, new courses were announced in radio speaking for 1938, in speech pathology for 1939 and in drama for 1941. By 1946 coursework had developed to the point that the department could offer its B.A. degree in four areas of concentration: public speaking, drama, radio and speech sciences.
The identification of these areas quickly gave rise to academic and administrative specialization within the department. One effect of this specialization was the formation of departmental divisions. The department maintained four such divisions until 1972, when the division of Speech and Hearing Sciences left the department for autonomous status in what is now the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences. From that time until 1989 three divisions—Speech Communication, Radio-Television-Film and Theater—existed; in 1989 each division became a separate department in the College of Arts and Humanities and in the spring of 1998, the department was renamed the Department of Communication.
Communication maintains the disciplinary interests, goals and subject matters that have animated speech instruction at Maryland from its beginnings. The department sustains a long-standing commitment to research and teaching in the history, processes and effects of communication through speech and its extensions. Within the department, students may do graduate work in communication in programs leading to the M.A. and Ph.D. degrees.
Chairs of the Department
Charles Richardson
Fall 1901 - Spring 1940
Raymond Ehrensberger
Fall 1940 - Spring 1953
Warren Strausbaugh
Fall 1953 - Spring 1970
Thomas J. Aylward
Fall 1970 - Spring 1973 Fall 1975 - Spring 1983
Irving Linkow (Acting)
Fall 1973 - Spring 1975
Patti P. Gillespie
Fall 1983 - Spring 1989
Andrew D. Wolvin
Spring 1980 & Spring 1987 (Acting Chair)
Fall 1989 - Spring 1994
James F. Klumpp (Acting)
Fall 1994 - Spring 1995
Martha M. Watson (Acting)
Spring 1995 - Summer 1997
Edward L. Fink
Fall 1997 - Spring 2007
Elizabeth L. Toth
Fall 2007-Fall 2015
Shawn J. Parry-Giles
Spring 2016 - present
Tenure/Tenure-Track Faculty Members — Department of Communication, 1998-present
Linda Aldoory
- Assistant Professor - 1999-2005
- Associate Professor - 2005-2017
- Professor - 2017-2022
- Professor Emeritus - 2022-present
- Associate Dean (ARHU) - 2017-2022
Lindsey Anderson
- Assistant Professor - 2014-2020
- Associate Professor - 2020-present
Briana Barner
- Assistant Professor - 2023-present
Shannon A. Bowen
- Assistant Professor - 2005-2008
Deborah A. Cai
- Assistant Professor - 1995-2001
- Associate Professor - 2001-2009
Ganga Dhanesh
- Associate Professor - 2023-present
Edward L. Fink
- Associate Professor - 1981-1987
- Professor - 1987-2015
- Distinguished Scholar-Teacher - 1988
- Professor Emeritus - 2015-present
Nana Kwame Osei Fordjour
- Assistant Professor - 2023-present
Robert N. Gaines
- Associate Professor - 1986-2007
- Professor - 2007-2015
- Associate Dean (UGST) - 2011-2014
- Professor Emeritus - 2015-present
Jennifer Garst
- Assistant Professor - 1999-2003
James E. Grunig
- Professor - 1999-2005
- Professor Emeritus - 2005-present
Larissa A. Grunig
- Associate Professor - 1999-2001
- Professor - 2001-2005
- Professor Emerita - 2005-present
Dale Hample
- Associate Professor - 2007-2021
Nicholas Joyce
- Assistant Professor - 2014-2022
- Associate Professor - 2022-present
Sahar Mohamed Khamis
- Assistant Professor - 2007-2014
- Associate Professor - 2014-present
Jiyoun Kim
- Assistant Professor - 2017-present
James F. Klumpp
- Associate Professor - 1986-2006
- Professor - 2006-2015
- Professor Emeritus - 2015-present
Sun Young Lee
- Assistant Professor - 2018-2023
- Associate Professor - 2023-present
Brooke Fisher Liu
- Assistant Professor - 2009-2012
- Associate Professor - 2012-2019
- Professor - 2019-present
- Associate Dean (GRAD) - 2020-2022
Meina Liu
- Assistant Professor - 2006-2012
- Associate Professor - 2012-2013
Katherine McComas
- Assistant Professor - 2000-2003
Kristy Maddux
- Assistant Professor - 2007-2013
- Associate Professor - 2013-present
Michael D. Meffert
- Assistant Professor - 1999-2004
Kang Namkoong
- Assistant Professor - 2017-2020
- Associate Professor - 2020-present
Xiaoli Nan
- Assistant Professor - 2008-2012
- Associate Professor - 2012-2017
- Professor - 2017-present
- Distinguished Scholar-Teacher - 2020
Nneka Ifeoma Ofulue
- Assistant Professor - 2008-2012
Hailey Otis
- Assistant Professor - 2023-present
Shawn J. Parry-Giles
- Assistant Professor - 1998-2003
- Associate Professor - 2003-2007
- Professor - 2007-present
Trevor Parry-Giles
- Assistant Professor - 2001-2005
- Associate Professor - 2005-2010
- Professor - 2010-present
- Associate Dean (ARHU) - 2022-present
Damien Smith Pfister
- Associate Professor - 2016-present
Yan Qu
- Assistant Professor - 2023-present
Torsten Reimer
- Assistant Professor - 2006-2009
Anita Atwell Seate
- Assistant Professor - 2012-2018
- Associate Professor - 2018-present
Erich Sommerfeldt
- Assistant Professor - 2012-2018
- Associate Professor - 2018-2022
Catherine Knight Steele
- Assistant Professor - 2016-present
Ursula Ströh
- Assistant Professor - 2006-2007
Mari Boor Tonn
- Associate Professor - 2001-2009
Elizabeth L. Toth
- Professor - 2004-2021
- Professor Emerita - 2021-present
Monique Mitchell Turner
- Assistant Professor - 2003-2007
- Associate Professor - 2007-2010
Amber Westcott-Baker
- Assistant Professor - 2013-2016
Laura Drake Witz
- Assistant Professor - 1999-2004
Andrew D. Wolvin
- Assistant Professor - 1968-1973
- Associate Professor - 1973-1978
- Professor - 1978-2022
Carly S. Woods
- Assistant Professor - 2016-2020
- Associate Professor - 2020-present
Michelle Murray Yang
- Assistant Professor - 2013-2021
Carina Mazariegos Zelaya
- Assistant Professor - 2022-present