New Directions in Interpersonal Communication Research

Sandi W. Smith (Ph.D., University of Southern California) is Professor in the Department of Communication at Michigan State University, where she teaches courses in persuasion, communication theory, and interpersonal communication, and Director of the Health and Risk Communication Center. Her research interests parallel these course topics, and her research has been funded by foundations and government agencies such as the Kaiser Family Foundation, the Fetzer Institute, the U. S. Department of Education, and the National Cancer Institute. In specific, she has focused her research on the impact of memorable messages received from important others on health behaviors; persuading people to carry signed and witnessed organ donor cards and to engage in family discussion about their decisions related to organ donation; encouraging college students to consume alcohol moderately, if at all; and the portrayal of interpersonal relationships on television. Among her more than sixty publications are articles that appeared in Communication Monographs, Human Communication Research, Health Communication, Journal of Health Communication, Journal of Communication, and the Journal of Applied Communication Research, among others. She is active in the National Communication Association and the International Communication Association where she served as Chair of the Interpersonal Communication Division. She has received honors for her teaching and research from student groups, professional associations, and the universities at which she has worked. In 2007, she was honored with the Distinguished Faculty Award at Michigan State University, and in 2008 she received the B. Aubrey Fisher Mentorship Award from ICA. Steven R. Wilson (Ph.D., Purdue University) is Professor in the Department of Communication at Purdue University. He also has been a faculty member at Michigan State, Northern Illinois, and Northwestern Universities. His research and teaching focus on interpersonal communication, social influence, and aggression/conflict. He is the author of Seeking and Resisting Compliance: Why Individuals Say What They Do When Trying to Influence Others (Sage, 2002), for which he received the Gerald R. Miller book award from the National Communication Association's interpersonal communication division in 2005. He also has published more than 50 articles and chapters in communication journals such as Communication Monographs, Communication Research, and Human Communication Research, interdisciplinary journals such as Child Abuse & Neglect, Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, and Journal of Language and Social Psychology, and edited volumes such as the Handbook of Communication and Social Interaction Skills and the Handbook of Communication Science (2nd ed.). His recent research explores patterns of parent-child interaction in families at risk for child maltreatment as well as patterns associated with children's school readiness (funded by the Lilly Endowment). He is active in both the National Communication Association and the International Communication Association, and has served as chair of the interpersonal communication division for both associations. From 2001-2003, he served as one of five associate editors of the interdisciplinary journal Personal Relationships. In 2008, he was honored with the Bernard Brommel Award for Outstanding Scholarship or Distinguished Service in Family Communication from NCA.