University of Colorado at Boulder Professor Gerard Hauser has been named a National Communication Association Distinguished Scholar, making CU-Boulder one of a very small group of institutions with more than one such scholar on its faculty.
Hauser was recognized Nov. 19 at the association's awards ceremony in Boston. The honor recognizes his career contributions to the understanding of communication. CU-Boulder Professor Stanley Deetz won the same award in 2004.
Hauser is a professor of communication and a contributing member of the comparative literature faculty at CU-Boulder. He researches how interaction among citizens and officials forms public opinion.
"Since coming to CU, I have been investigating the various ways citizens discuss issues, form public opinions and exchange them with those in power through nonformal communication, or vernacular rhetoric," he said.
"The communication department at CU is a major center for this line of research. Graduate students and faculty involved in the vernacular project have been conducting critical and field research that explores alternatives to polling data for gaining the pulse of how citizens frame public problems that affect their lives, such as dealing with end-of-life decisions, what they regard as the major considerations for resolving these problems and how they think officials and institutions should address them," he said.
In 2000, Hauser received the NCA Public Address Division's Marie Hochmuth Nichols Book Award. He also is a winner of the Rhetoric Society of America's highest honor, the George E. Yoos Award, and is a fellow of the society.
He has published numerous articles and reviews on the subject of rhetorical theory and criticism. He has written or edited four scholarly books including "Introduction to Rhetorical Theory" and "Vernacular Voices: The Rhetoric of Publics and Public Spheres."
Hauser also is interested in the discourse of human rights and is currently working on a book that studies the writings and memoirs of political prisoners around the world. He was founding chair of the Alliance of Rhetoric Societies and is the current editor of Philosophy and Rhetoric.
In addition to his teaching duties at CU-Boulder, Hauser serves as chair of the Boulder Faculty Assembly and on the board of directors of the Leroy Keller Center for the Study of the First Amendment. He was founding interim director of the university's Program for Writing and Rhetoric.
Founded in 1914, the National Communication Association is a nonprofit scholarly organization of about 7,100 members from every state in the United States and more than 20 countries. For more information visit .