Faculty & Staff

Dr. Austin was born and raised in Lafayette, LA before earning her bachelors degree in Communication Studies with a minor in organizational studies from the University of Mary Hardin Baylor in Belton, TX, masters degree in Communication Studies at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, WY, and Ph.D. in...

I received my B.A. (2005), M.A. (2007), and Ph.D. (2012) in Communication from the University of Arizona. When I am not teaching or researching, I enjoy spending time with my partner, Kevin; our son, Charlie; and our pup. We love sunshine, mountains, music, and the beautiful San Marcos River.

Dr. Burnette is a Minnie Stevens Piper Professor and Regents' Teacher in the Department of Communication Studies. She teaches graduate and undergraduate classes in Political Communication, American Speeches, and Rhetorical Criticism. Dr. Burnette's B.A. and M.A. are from the University of Virginia and...

Mr. Chilton is currently a Senior Lecturer with the Department of Communication Studies. He earned his M.A. at Texas State University and his B.S. at Lamar University. His academic interests include instructional communication, group and team dynamics, assessment, training and development, and relationship...

Texas State University | Master of Arts in Communication Studies | 2016
Texas State University | Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies | 2012

I received my M.A. (2009) and Ph.D. (2014) in Communication Studies from the University of Texas at Austin. Before that, I completed my B.A. (2007) in Communication Studies and Spanish from Southwestern University.

Dr. Elizabeth K. Eger is an Associate Professor and Regents' Teacher in the Department of Communication Studies at Texas State University. She obtained her PhD at the University of Colorado Boulder where she also received graduate certificates in Critical Theory and in Women and Gender Studies.

Dr....

Dr. Kristen Farris is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication Studies at Texas State University. She graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 2017, where she studied interpersonal communication at the intersections of health and instructional communication. Her interpersonal...

Ph.D. Purdue University, Communication
M.A. University of Arkansas, Communication
B.A. University of Arkansas, Communication

*Health Services Research and Development Associated Post-Doctoral Fellow Richard L. Roudebush VA Medical Center, Indianapolis, Indiana

BA - University of Missouri-Columbia: Communication Studies
MA - Miami (Ohio) University: Communication Studies
PhD - University of Tennessee-Knoxville: Communication Studies and Adult Education

Dr. Keeley was born and raised in Tucson, AZ ; she comes from a large Irish American family filled with civil servants (police officers, fire fighters, and nurses) and believes that her work as a Professor (scholar and teacher) has the same service goal as those distinguished professions: to help others...

Daniel King (DK) earned his M.A. in Communication Studies with an emphasis in Dark Side Communication, as well as his Corporate Communication Training Certification, in fall of 2016 from Texas State University.

DK's areas of expertise include, but are not limited to, dark side communication, small...

Matthew Morris received his Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin, where his focus was rhetoric and political communication. His dissertation was an analysis of the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street's populist rhetoric and how various media influenced each group's organization and argumentation....

Dr. S. Marek Muller was born and raised in Denver, CO. Since then, they have lived and taught all around the world in locations ranging from Muncie, Indiana to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. They received their PhD in Communication from the University of Utah. Dr. Muller came to TXST in Summer 2023 after four...

I am a senior lecturer and Basic Course Director in the Communication Studies Department at Texas State University. I earned my B.B.A. in Business Administration from Angelo State University and my M.A. in Communication Studies here at Texas State. My focus is on using communication to build strong relationships...

Dr. Pokharel holds a B.S. in Nursing from the Purwanchal University, Nepal; an M.S. in Health Promotion and education and a Ph.D. in Communication from the University of Utah.

Dr. Pokharel's research focuses on the strategic communication of health information to the public. She utilizes foundational...

Nikkie Saldivar Hodgson, Ph.D. has 33 years of experience in higher education and her roles have included teaching, enrollment, retention, recruitment, civic engagement, employee development and training, organizational development, and operations. She is currently researching the speech act theory in...

Dr. Erik Timmerman graduated with a B.A. in Communication from the University of Nevada, Reno; an M.A. in Communication Studies from Texas State University; and a Ph.D. Organizational Communication from the University of Texas at Austin.

Erik’s research examine communication processes in organizations,...

I grew up in Milwaukee, and I’m a graduate of UW-Milwaukee’s communication department. I earned my BA and my MA there, and then moved to Austin where I earned my doctorate from the University of Texas. I loved living in Austin, but was also excited to return home after earning my PhD, when I was magically...