Professor Cindy Gallois elected head of International Communication Association

Professor Cindy Gallois elected head of International Communication Association

University of Queensland Academic Board president Professor Cindy Gallois has been elected president of the 3000-plus member International Communication Association.

In 2001 Professor Gallois will become the first Australian, and only the second non-American president (the other was from Israel) in the Association's 50 year history.

The International Communication Association, based in the USA, is the premier academic association for communication researchers. Its 17 divisions and interest groups cover areas including interpersonal, intercultural, organisational, health, political communication, media studies, and cultural studies, with links to psychology, management, sociology, journalism, and law. The association publishes communication journals including Human Communication Research, which Professor Gallois edited from 1995 to 1998.

"One of the reasons I was nominated is that the ICA is expanding its international base and currently has 15 percent non-American membership," she said. "I believe I can add to the process of internationalisation by bringing a non-American perspective."

Professor Gallois said she hoped to focus on the application of research in communication to policy and practice. "Communication research has a huge number of applications, and it can inform policy in areas like politics, law, and welfare, and practice in information technology," she said.

Professor Gallois, an association member since 1983 and former chair of the membership committee, has specialised in communication research since completing her psychology PhD at the University of Florida on inter-gender non-verbal communication. Since joining UQ in 1979 she has studied communication research across social groups, including ethnicity, gender, and organisational membership, and communication and HIV.

"While communication departments are common in American universities, they're not the norm in Australia," she said. "UQ is very strong in communication research across several faculties, and we have on staff senior communication scholars, including world leaders."

Professor Gallois was elected UQ Academic Board president in 1998, and she will serve until the end of 2000. The Board is the principal advisory body to the University Senate and the Vice-Chancellor on matters relating to teaching, research and educational programs. She will convene the ICA's 51st conference in Washington, DC, in 2001, and will remain on the executive for the next six years.

Further information: Professor Cindy Gallois, telephone 07 3365 1320.