Dean Seeger Wins Prestigious Gerald M. Phillips Award from the National Communication Association

Matthew W. Seeger, Dean of the College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts, and Professor in the Department of Communication at Wayne State University, received the National Communication Association's 2017 Gerald M. Phillips Award for Distinguished Applied Communication Scholarship. Seeger accepted the award at the 103rd Annual Convention, November 16 - 19, in Dallas, TX.

"I am so honored to be recognized with the Phillips Award and I want to thank NCA and the selection committee for this honor and my colleagues for nominating me," said Seeger. "This award reaffirms my belief that communication matters and that communication is necessary to solve real world problems, especially those wicked and cascading problems such as we see in crises and disasters."

Given annually, the award is presented to scholars responsible for authoring bodies of published research and creative scholarship in applied communication. Dean Seeger was honored for his research in crisis communication, particularly that related to health-related crises, has received over $5 million in external. From this research, Seeger has authored or co-authored a significant number of books, book chapters, and journal articles that place communication as a theoretical explanation for developing and implementing crisis applications.

"The Communication discipline has a long tradition of exceptional scholarship," NCA Executive Director Paaige K. Turner said. "Matthew Seeger's contributions are noteworthy, and we are proud to honor him with this award."

For more information about NCA's awards program, visit http://www.natcom.org/awards/.