A North Dakota State University professor left for New Orleans Monday to take the helm of the nation's oldest and largest communication group.
Judy C. Pearson will become president of the National Communication Association on Saturday. She is a communications professor and associate dean of arts, humanities and social sciences at NDSU.
Founded in 1914, the NCA is a nonprofit organization made up of about 8,000 communication educators, researchers, students and practitioners from every U.S. state and more than 20 foreign countries.
Pearson, 56, served as first vice president of the Washington, D.C.-based NCA during the past year and was in charge of organizing this year's annual convention. About 4,000 people, including 40 to 50 faculty and staff and 30 graduate students in NDSU's communication department, are expected to attend the event Thursday through Sunday in New Orleans.
Pearson said she will be the first North Dakotan to hold the NCA presidency.
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A native of Isle, Minn., Pearson earned her bachelor's degree at St. Cloud (Minn.) State University and her master's and doctorate degrees at Indiana University, Bloomington. She was a communications professor in Indiana, Iowa, Michigan and Ohio, and directed Virginia Tech's north campus before coming to NDSU in July 2000.
Pearson and her husband, Paul Nelson, chairman of the NDSU communication department, were hired to start the school's doctoral program in communication.
As NCA president, Pearson will assume a spokeswoman role, delivering speeches, addressing technological disparities between students and lobbying Congress on issues such as communication curriculum in schools.
"I think it's just a wonderful opportunity to serve, and I think in many ways this is the ultimate goal or service-type position for someone in our field," she said.
Pearson will continue to teach and serve as associate dean of the communication department during her one-year presidency.
Readers can reach Forum reporter Mike Nowatzki at (701) 241-5528
