Communication: Making Connections (10th Edition)

Bill Seiler is a professor in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, where he has taught since 1972. He was department chair for more than 20 years and now teaches and directs the introductory course full time. The Undergraduate Leadership Award was renamed the William J. Seiler Undergraduate Leadership Award to honor him and his leadership of the department. Other honors include Outstanding Educator of America, Outstanding University and College Teacher by the Nebraska Communication Association, Outstanding Young Alumni and Distinguished Alumni Awards from the University of Wisconsin at Whitewater, and 2002 Boss of the Year Award. Bill received the 2013 National Communication Association’s Basic Course Division’s “Distinguished Faculty” award and was named to the 2013 Central States Association’s “Hall of Fame,” and in 2015 he received the National Communication’s “Wallace A. Bacon Lifetime Teaching Excellence Award.”

Bill earned a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Wisconsin at Whitewater, a master of arts from Kansas State University, and a doctorate from Purdue University. He is an experienced educator, consultant, researcher, and author in the area of communication and has an adjunct appointment in the Education & Human Sciences College. He is an avid golfer, who plays every chance he gets, which ― unfortunately for him ― is never enough. He loves his Nebraska Huskers. Bill and his wife Kathi have two daughters, Dana and Dionne; two sons-in-law, Lee and Wade; two grandchildren, Grant and Will; and three step-grandchildren, Zach, Stephanie, and Taylor.

Melissa Beall is a professor in the Communication Studies Department and a member of the teacher education faculty at the University of Northern Iowa. Dr. Beall, a proud Husker fan, received all three of her degrees from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Her areas of expertise include listening, intercultural listening, intercultural communication, communication and technology, and communication theory. She teaches oral communication, listening, language and communication, public speaking, critical thinking, college teaching, communication and technology, intercultural communication, interpersonal communication, and communication theory.

Dr. Beall currently serves as the chair of the UNI Graduate faculty. Her honors include Iowa Board of Regents Faculty Excellence recipient, 2012 Central States Communication Association Hall of Fame, International Listening Association’s Outstanding Listening Educator, Listening Hall of Fame, and numerous teaching awards. She has served on numerous editorial boards; presented more than 600 papers, programs, and workshops; is past president of the Iowa Communication Association and the Nebraska Speech Communication and Theatre Association; and is vice president of the World Communication Association, the Pacific and Asian Communication Association, and the International Association of Communication Sciences. She is an officer in her local AAUP chapter and is a past president of the Central States Communication Association and of the International Listening Association. She has also served as an officer in many divisions of the National Communication Association.

Joseph Mazer is an associate professor and associate chair of the Department of Communication Studies at Clemson University. At Clemson, he is Director of the Social Media Listening Center, an interdisciplinary research lab and teaching facility that provides a platform to listen, measure, and engage in more than 650 million sources of social media conversations. His research and teaching interests are in instructional communication, social media and interpersonal relationships, quantitative research methods, and the introductory communication course. Joe is listed among the top 1 percent of prolific scholars in the discipline of Communication Studies spanning 2007–2011, according to a study in Communication Education, a journal published by the National Communication Association. He has received international, regional, university-wide, and departmental recognition for outstanding teaching. Joe is a past recipient of the Outstanding New Teacher Award from the Central States Communication Association and the Outstanding Professor of the Year Award from Clemson University’s Department of Communication Studies undergraduate student body.

Joe is an active member of the National Communication Association and Central States Communication Association, where he has held several leadership roles; serves on editorial boards for several journals; and is Consulting Editor for Forums for Communication Education and an Associate Editor for Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. Joe received his Ph.D. in communication studies from Ohio University, a master’s degree in communication from Illinois State University, and a bachelor’s degree in mass communication from Mansfield University. Joe resides in Clemson, South Carolina, with his wife, Chrissy, and their children, Claire and Owen. As of this writing, they are participating in Clemson University’s Faculty in Residence program and make their home in a first-year student residence hall on campus. Together, they enjoy spending time with students in their community and cheering for the Clemson Tigers!