The National Communication Association recently named University of Colorado at Boulder Professor Emeritus John Waite Bowers one of the association's distinguished scholars.
Bowers is one of three CU-Boulder professors to receive the award, which recognizes lifetime achievement in communication scholarship. The others are Gerard Hauser and Stanley Deetz.
"Professor Bowers has received one of the highest distinctions in our field, a recognition to which he is most deserved," said Michele Jackson, who chairs the CU-Boulder communication department. "We are one of a handful of departments in the country to have the privilege of three NCA Distinguished Scholars on our faculty."
Bowers, who currently resides in Bend, Ore., received the award on Nov. 18 during the association's annual meeting in San Antonio. The Washington, D.C.,-based society is dedicated to enhancing the research, teaching and service of its 7,500 members.
"I appreciate this substantial recognition, and I'm especially happy that it isn't yet posthumous," Bowers said of the nod.
After more than 30 years of teaching at the University of Iowa and CU-Boulder, Bowers retired in 1991. He chaired the CU-Boulder communication department from 1987 to 1991 and is credited with reviving the program after it had been eliminated in 1982.
Former Dean Charles Middleton once said Bowers would be "regarded in perpetuity as the founder of the modern communication department at the University of Colorado at Boulder."
During his CU-Boulder tenure, Bowers taught graduate courses in communication research and theory. He has published more than 60 books, chapters and articles, focusing mainly on communication and conflict, persuasion and social science research methods.
His research on lexical variables in communication is considered required reading at universities across the country.