Professor of Communication

Bill helped "pioneer" in the creation of the first college level communication program in Wisconsin and he oversaw and chaired the development of the M. A. program at the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point. He is currently the Director of Communication 101 - the university wide required course in public speaking and presentational skills. He is the author of You and Your Speeches: A Venture in Self Discovery  (6 editions). In 2005, he formed INNOVATIVE COMMCEPTS and published Communicate. The third edition of that book was published in the fall of 2007.  In 2005, he and his wife, Grace, edited Yevgeny Yevtushenko's latest collection of poems in English, Walk on the Ledge. Over the past several years Bill has been actively involved in the integration of computer-mediated communication in instruction. His online teaching and use of technology in the classroom to "make learning visible" were cited by Microsoft. In 2001, he and wife led the semester abroad program to Australia.  They also lead the group to New Zealand in 2007. 

EDUCATION

BA Degree: Goshen College, Goshen, Indiana (Speech/Drama)
MA Degree: University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS (Speech Communication)
Ph.D. Degree: University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS (Communication & Human Relations)

Ph.D. Dissertation: Sam Houston: A Rhetorical Study of the Man and the Myth

Major Areas of Concentration: Communication Theory, Creative Problem Solving, Public Speaking, Individual and Organizational Transformation.

APPOINTMENTS

Goshen College, 1966-1967.
U. W. - Stevens Point, 1968 - present

PROFESSIONAL INTEREST AREAS

Public Speaking, Communication Theory and Criticism, Reasoning and Persuasion, Creative Problem Solving, Team Building, Computer-Mediated Communication, Oral Interpretation, The Information Age and Social Change.

ORGANIZATIONAL CONSULTANT AND PRESENTATIONS

Over the past several years Bill has conducted numerous seminars on communication, organizational change, teamwork and problem solving for major institutions and corporations, including: A. T. & T, Bristol-Meyers Squibb, Mobil Oil, Marion Labs, The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and Associated Bank.

Within the past several  years he developed and taught six courses for delivery exclusively online: Team Building, Creative Problem Solving, Using the Internet for Creative Education and Social Change, Global Communication and the Information Age, Reasoning and Persuasion, and Positive Change: Individual and Organizational Transformation.  He has conducted seminars for educators on strategies for effective on line teaching.

He served as a consultant to Alma College (Alma, MI) in the development of their undergraduate program in communication. Bill is often called upon for public presentations about the role of communication in our society, change and the utilization of on line instruction. His "second love" is poetry and over the past several years he has presented numerous recitals. He often performs with Yevgeny Yevtushenko, one of Russia's most outstanding contemporary poets. His most recent appearance with Yevtushenko occurred in September, 2005, at Knox College, and in Chicago as part of a double billing, at the performance of Anna Karenina at the Vitalist Theatre. 

Office Telephone: (715) 346-2237
Home Telephone: (715) 344-9286

Email: wdavidso@uwsp.edu