Deborah Whitt
Chair, Department of Communication Arts, Speech Communication

Deborah Whitt grew up on a farm near Columbus, Nebraska. She received her B.A. from Wayne State College and taught high school Biology and Speech in O'Neill, Nebraska before pursuing her M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She has been teaching in the Communication Arts Department at Wayne State College since 1985.

Whitt's teaching interests include Communication Theory, Intercultural Communication, Health Communication, Family Communication, Instructional Communication, and Organizational Development. She has presented research in "Incorporating Service Learning into the General Education Speech Communication Course, " "Fathers Staying Connected: Interviews with Divorced and Unwed Fathers," "Farm Safety: An Analysis of Communication Campaigns," "Changes in Rural Women Roles/Impact on Family Relationships," "The Role of Stepmothers--Past, Present, and Future," and "Factors Important to Stepfamily Success." Whitt has received numerous Instructional and Teaching-Learning Foundation Grants and was selected as the 2001 Teaching Excellence Award recipient by the Nebraska State Colleges' Board of Trustees. She is advisor to the undergraduate Communication Honor Society, a Children's Storyteller, and Chair of the Communication Arts Department.