Communication chair nominated for top academic association role

Posted January 23, 2017Communications and Marketing Department

GREENVILLE, Pa.—Thiel College’s James Pedas Professor of Communication, Dane S. Claussen, Ph.D., is one of two candidates for Vice President of the Association for Education in Journalism & Mass Communication, the country’s largest organization for journalism and media professors.

The election is this spring. If elected, Claussen will be sworn in at the AEJMC convention Aug. 9-12 in Chicago and take office Oct. 1, 2017. Claussen would then automatically become president-elect in 2018-2019; president in 2019-2020; and past president in 2020-2021. He would be a member of AEJMC’s Board of Directors during all four years.

The AEJMC, founded in 1912, is headquartered in Columbia, S.C. It has nearly 4,000 members in more than 50 countries.

“Many of my friends have served as AEJMC President, but I never thought I would be nominated for the vice-presidency, leading to the presidency,” Claussen said. “Considering AEJMC’s size, including all of the top people in our field, it is a very high honor just to be nominated.”

Claussen’s opponent in the vice-presidential election will be David Perlmutter, Ph.D., dean and professor of the College of Media and Communication, Texas Tech University.

An internationally known commentator and analyst of communication education, Claussen is best known within AEJMC for serving as editor of Journalism & Mass Communication Educator, the world’s oldest and largest scholarly journal devoted to journalism and public relations education, from March 2006 until Sept. 2012.

In addition to editing J&MCE, he has headed the AEJMC’s Mass Communication & Society Division; History Division; Magazine Division; Media Management, Economics and Entrepreneurship Division; and LGBTQ Interest Group, among other roles. He has also been an elected member of AEJMC’s Teaching Committee; appointed member of its Publications Committee; and ex officio member of its Diversity Task Force.

Before joining Thiel in July 2015—where he also is chair of the Department of Media, Communication and Public Relations, and executive director of the James Pedas Communication Center—he was visiting professor of international journalism at Shanghai International Studies University in China for the 2013-2015 academic years. He was also executive director at the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada (2011-2013); professor and director of graduate programs for the School of Communication at Point Park University, Pittsburgh (2001-2010); and assistant professor of media, journalism and film and of gender studies for Missouri State University (1999-2001). Claussen was a Fulbright specialist (2009-2014) and has done extensive consulting for universities and nonprofits in Bangladesh.

Claussen holds a B.S. in journalism from the University of Oregon (1984); an M.B.A. in corporate finance and labor relations/human resources from University of Chicago (1986); an M.S. in mass communications from Kansas State University (1996); and a Ph.D. in mass communication from University of Georgia (1999). He has also completed postdoctoral courses in U.S. intellectual and religious history.

Prior to his academic career, Claussen served as editor and publisher of daily, weekly, biweekly, and monthly newspapers and magazines in Wisconsin, Oregon, and Washington state; a media mergers and acquisitions broker and appraiser; and president of a national consulting group for newspapers.

“If I am elected AEJMC vice-president (and would become president), it will put a spotlight on the excellent work we are doing here at Thiel College. I also will be personally involved for four years in many urgent issues in teaching and research in journalism and other mass communication, which will help keep us at Thiel College on the cutting edge,” Claussen said.

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Thiel College is an independent college founded in the Lutheran tradition. Located in Greenville, Pa., the College offers 60 majors and minors, 24 varsity sports, and an 11:1 student-faculty ratio. The College is also home to a new Master of Science in speech-language pathology and 2Master of Business Administration. Both master’s degree programs offer innovative and accelerated five-year paths which allow students to earn a bachelor’s and master’s degree in five years. The speech-language pathology program also has an accelerated 15-month graduate-level program. The M.B.A. program also has a 12-month post-graduate program.A dedicated faculty paired with dynamic research and internship opportunities produce numerous graduate school and job placements. Coeducational from its beginnings, the College remains committed to combining tradition with innovation as it celebrates 150 years.



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