About the Department of Communication
History of the Department of Communication
The study of communication at College Park is as old as the institution itself. 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 of Communication
 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 |
 Robert N. Gaines (Acting) Spring 1998 |
 Edward L. Fink Fall 1997 - Spring 2007 |
Elizabeth L. Toth Fall 2007-present |
Tenure/Tenure-Track Faculty Members—
Department of Communication, 1998-present
| Name | Rank | Dates |
Linda Aldoory |
Assistant Professor Associate Professor |
1999-2005 2005-present |
Shannon A. Bowen |
Assistant Professor |
2005-2008 |
Deborah A. Cai |
Assistant Professor Associate Professor |
1995-2001 2001-2009 |
Edward L. Fink |
Associate Professor Professor Distinguished Scholar-Teacher |
1981-1987 1987-present 1988-present |
Robert N. Gaines |
Associate Professor Professor |
1986-2007 2007-present |
Jennifer Garst |
Assistant Professor |
1999-2003 |
James E. Grunig |
Professor Professor Emeritus |
1999-2005 2005-present |
Larissa A. Grunig |
Associate Professor Professor Professor Emerita |
1999-2001 2001-2005 2005-present |
Dale Hample |
Associate Professor |
2007-present |
Sahar Mohamed Khamis |
Assistant Professor |
2007-present |
James F. Klumpp |
Associate Professor Professor |
1986-2006 2006-present |
Brooke Fisher Liu |
Assistant Professor |
2009-present |
Meina Liu |
Assistant Professor |
2006-present |
Katherine McComas |
Assistant Professor |
2000-2003 |
Kristy Maddux |
Assistant Professor |
2007-present |
Michael D. Meffert |
Assistant Professor |
1999-2004 |
Xiaoli Nan |
Assistant Professor |
2008-present |
Nneka Ifeoma Ofulue |
Assistant Professor |
2008-present |
Shawn J. Parry-Giles |
Assistant Professor Associate Professor Professor |
1998-2003 2003-2007 2007-present |
Trevor Parry-Giles |
Assistant Professor Associate Professor |
2001-2005 2005-present |
Torsten Reimer |
Assistant Professor |
2006-2009 |
Ursula Ströh |
Assistant Professor |
2006-2007 |
Mari Boor Tonn |
Associate Professor |
2001-2009 |
Elizabeth L. Toth |
Professor |
2004-present |
Monique Mitchell Turner |
Assistant Professor Associate Professor |
2003-2007 2007-present |
Laura Drake Witz |
Assistant Professor |
1999-2004 |
Andrew D. Wolvin |
Assistant Professor Associate Professor Professor |
1968-1973 1973-1978 1978-present |
