Faculty

Donna Uchida serves as the program director for the MA in Professional Communication program and works closely with prospective and current students as well as alumni of the program. She reviews and admits applicants in collaboration with the Academic Director and supports students in their academic journey and job search. In addition, she is responsible for the Professional Certificate program that serves working professionals and those interested in acquiring additional competency in...

David Ryan serves as the Academic Director and Faculty Chair for the Professional Communication and Certificate in Professional Communication programs. He teaches undergraduate courses in rhetoric, focusing on orality and literacy studies, and graduate courses in strategic and technical communication, specializing in strategic planning and usability/UX studies. His research interests relate the intellectual history of technical communication with classicism, human enhancement technologies, and...

Associate Professor Moira Gunn is a former NASA scientist, engineer and software programmer. Gunn is internationally recognized for her work with global biotechnology business and emerging global information systems. Her pioneering research continues to investigate and inform the next generation of conscientious developers and leaders in biotechnology and information systems.

As one of the leading drivers behind the Business of Biotechnology Program, Gunn teaches classes on the legal, ethical...

Evelyn Y. Ho is a professor of communication studies, Asian Pacific American studies, and critical diversity studies. Beginning with an understanding that communication is a cultural activity and that health care systems and beliefs are profoundly cultural, Professor Ho's teaching and research focus broadly on the intersections of health, culture, and communication, with a specific focus on the use and cultural meanings of acupuncture and Chinese medicine in underserved communities. She has led...

Tika Lamsal earned his PhD in Rhetoric and Composition from University of Louisville. He teaches courses on rhetoric and composition, cross-cultural communication, and global rhetorics in both Rhetoric and Language Department and MA in Professional Communication Program. Through the lens of critical ethnography, his research examines the intersection of linguistic, cultural, and multimodal literacies of Bhutanese refugees in U.S. contexts to demonstrate how the refugees negotiate their ways to...

Michelle LaVigne received her BA in English from the University of Texas, Austin and a PhD in Communication Studies - Rhetoric from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. At USF she teaches written and oral communication classes across disciplines and programs. Her classes focus on multimodality and publicity in academic, civic, and professional contexts. Her research focuses on the intersections between dance, rhetoric, and performance. In particular, Prof. LaVigne writes about the persuasive...

Ted Matula earned his PhD in Communication from The Ohio State University, specializing in rhetorical theory and its usefulness in studying popular culture. In addition to public speaking and written and oral communication, he teaches courses on popular culture, free speech, and communication ethics. His research has been published in Communication Studies and Popular Music and Society.

Leigh Meredith earned her PhD in Communication Studies, specializing in Rhetoric and Public Culture, from Northwestern University.

Her research and teaching interests center on the relationship between changing communication technologies, practices of representation, and popular conceptions of identity and subjectivity. More specifically, she focuses on the interface between old and new media, and what that site of convergence reveals about changing ways of reading and relating to others.

Allison Thorson is a Professor of Communication Studies, Chair of the Department of Communication Studies, Director of the Interdisciplinary Committee on Children and Youth, and Director of the Child and Youth Studies Minor at University of San Francisco. Her research focuses on how individuals and families communicatively manage and maintain individual/relational well-being in the context of — often deemed taboo — unexpected, hurtful, or non-normative events (e.g., family communication...

Brent’s specialties are driving crisis communications, executive communications, thought leadership and corporate strategy. Leveraging more than 35 years of experience, Brent is a veteran communications strategist experienced in healthcare, utilities, telecommunications, energy and nonprofits. He holds graduate degrees from the University of Pennsylvania and Duke University and an undergraduate degree from the University of California at Berkeley.

Cameron Conaway, adjunct professor in the Professional Communication program, is an author, former investigative journalist, and corporate communications leader whose work has appeared in Harvard Business Review, NPR, Stanford Social Innovation Review, the Washington Post, World Economic Forum, Newsweek, Forbes, and The Guardian, among other publications.

With an MFA in creative writing from the University of Arizona and an executive MBA from the University of San Francisco, Professor Conaway...

Adjunct professor Michael Edward Lenert has 25 years’ experience teaching law, communications, and journalism at the University level, including to MA and PhD-level students. He is a licensed attorney in California with 30 years’ experience and has taught communications law and other classes at the University of San Francisco since 2009. He is a graduate of UC Berkeley and earned his Ph.D. from The University of Texas and his law degree from Georgetown Law School. From 2005-2009, he held the...

Annalise Ludtke, MA is a seasoned, cross-functional communication professional with experience working at nonprofit organizations, consulting agencies, academica, and tech companies to achieve a variety of brand and communications goals. She currently serves as the digital marketing manager at Vodori, a SaaS company based out of Chicago, where she spearheads digital content and marketing efforts to drive brand awareness and pipeline growth. Prior to Vodori, she served as the senior manager of...

Cynthia Schultes has taught at Trinity College in Washington, D.C., and Notre Dame Seishin University in Okayama, Japan. At USF, she teaches courses in rhetoric and language as well as historiography.

Kevin Slattery is an adjunct professor with the University of San Francisco in the School of Arts and Sciences and the School of Management. He teaches Media Advocacy in the Master of Professional Communications program and Nonprofit Marketing and Communications in the Master of Nonprofit Management program. With a background in marketing and communications, he has an established reputation within the government and nonprofit sectors in the United States. 

As a nonprofit executive, advisory...