Career background
I arrived at Marshall University in August 2020, quite literally sight unseen. It was just me, my dog, and a U-Haul pulling into Huntington. I had never been to the city before, and relocating during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic brought a mix of excitement and uncertainty. That first year was admittedly lonely. The campus was quiet, offices were closed, and it was difficult to build connections or find my place.
My second year, however, was transformative. As campus life returned and relationships began to form, I found both community and purpose. Without a doubt, choosing to come to Marshall was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made (second to marrying my spouse). I may not be a graduate of Marshall, but I consider this place my home and my family, and I hope Marshall considers me one of its own.
Educational background
I hold a Ph.D. in interpersonal health communication, with specialized training in patient-provider communication, advanced research methods, and pedagogy. My academic background focuses on understanding communication as both a human experience and a powerful force shaping relationships, institutions, health outcomes, and everyday decision-making. Which all sound fancy, I suppose, and so I think it’s worth noting that I was not a traditional college student. As a first-generation student and upon entering college at 18, I quickly learned that I was not prepared. Ultimately, I failed out. After being dismissed from college, I started working in the hospitality industry, and advanced to a sales/event planner. However, I knew that I wanted to do more, and so at 28, I returned to college and pursued a bachelor’s degree, but then decided to continue on and earn my graduate degrees.
Can you tell us the basics of what your job entails?
My work at Marshall spans teaching, research, leadership, and service. I founded and now direct the Marshall Presentation Center, which supports students across disciplines as they develop confidence and clarity in public speaking. I also direct the Fundamentals of Speech Communication course, where I work to stay abreast of emerging trends across fields and integrate them into the curriculum, so students are prepared to communicate effectively with the public in their chosen careers.
In addition, I hold a new appointment in the Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine as an assistant professor of medical education and have worked with my colleagues in the Department of Communication Studies and Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine developing our new M.D./M.A. in Health Communication Program. In this role, I work with medical students to strengthen their communication skills. I view a provider’s ability to communicate effectively not as a “soft skill,” but as a clinical competency, a competency that can have an immediate impact on patient understanding, trust, and health outcomes.
Beyond teaching, I chair the Faculty Senate’s Faculty Personnel Committee, an experience that has allowed me to work closely with and learn from incredible colleagues across Marshall. Across all of these roles, my approach is simple: I try to learn, try to understand, and I try to leave the day a little better than I found it.
Tell us about your choice to teach communication, and how this field benefits students.
Communication is far more than public speaking or “just talking.” At its core, communication is the dissemination of information between individuals, within organizations, and across communities. It shapes how we understand ourselves, our health, how we make sense of others, how institutions function, and how societies hold together, and how we reach understanding about our shared world.
If our individual experiences, attitudes, and beliefs are the fabric of the social world, then human communication is the thread that binds those pieces together into a shared quilt. Sometimes that thread is strong. Other times the stitching fails. But with a solid understanding of communication and its impact, those torn seams can be repaired. Studying communication equips students with skills they will use for a lifetime: clarity, empathy, critical thinking, and ethical engagement in any profession.