Charles E. Morris III

Charles E. Morris III (he/him/his) is a queer rhetorical critic whose research focuses on LGBTQ history and public memory. Morris co-founded QED: A Journal in GLBTQ Worldmaking (Michigan State University Press). His books include Queering Public Address, An Archive of Hope: Harvey Milk's Speeches and Writings, Remembering the AIDS Quilt, and The Conceit of Context. His essays and guest edited special issues and forums have appeared in the Quarterly Journal of Speech, Rhetoric & Public Affairs, Communication & Critical/Cultural Studies, Text & Performance Quarterly, Women’s Studies in Communication and elsewhere.

In 2022, Morris was inducted as a Distinguished Scholar by the National Communication Association. He has also been the recipient of NCA’s Douglas Ehninger Distinguished Rhetorical Scholar Award (2021), three-time recipient of NCA’s Golden Monograph Award (2003, 2010, and 2022) for article of the year, as well as NCA's Public Address, Critical Cultural Studies, and Rhetorical and Communication Theory divisions’ distinguished scholar awards (2024, 2020, 2016), the Randy Majors Award for Distinguished LGBTQ Scholarship (2008), and the Karl Wallace Memorial Award (2001) for early career achievement.  

Morris served as chair of the Research Council and on the Executive Committee of the National Communication Association, 2020-2022.