ABOUT THE AUTHORS

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Dan O’Hair is dean of the University of Kentucky College of Communications and Information Studies. He is past presidential professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Oklahoma and past president of the National Communication Association. He is coauthor or coeditor of fifteen communication texts and scholarly volumes and has published more than eighty research articles and chapters in dozens of communication, psychology, and health journals and books. He is a frequent presenter at national and international communication conferences, is on the editorial boards of various journals, and has served on numerous committees and task forces for regional and national communication associations.

Mary Wiemann is professor emeritus in the Department of Communication at Santa Barbara City College in California. Her books, book chapters, journal articles, student and instructor manuals, and online instructional materials all reflect her commitment to making effective communication real and accessible for students. A recipient of awards for outstanding teaching, she is also a communication laboratory innovator and has directed classroom research projects in the community college setting. She serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Literacy and Technology, is a frequent presenter at the National Communication Association convention, and has held a number of offices in the Human Communication and Technology Division of that organization.

Dorothy “Dolly” Imrich Mullin is a continuing lecturer in the Department of Communication at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her published research is in the area of media policy and effects. Her current focus is on teaching communication to undergraduates. She specializes in large introductory communication courses, including research methods and theory, and has been recognized for her efforts with a Distinguished Teaching Award. She also trains and supervises the graduate student teaching assistants, working to develop and promote excellent teaching skills among the professors of the future.

Jason J. Teven, an award-winning scholar and teacher, is professor of Human Communication Studies and the basic course coordinator at California State University, Fullerton. He has published widely in academic journals and is devoted to programmatic research and the social scientific approach to human communication, with research relating to credibility, caring, and social influence within instructional, interpersonal, and organizational communication contexts. His most recent scholarly activities include the examination of superior-subordinate relationships within organizations; communication competence; and the impact of personality traits on communication within the workplace and interpersonal relationships.