Professor
Legendary CEO of Dupont, Irving Shapiro, argued that leaders are “first and foremost in the human relations and communication business.” Dr. Melissa Wanzer, Ed.D., is in the “human relations and communication business” and her courses help students gain knowledge and skills needed to develop and maintain rewarding personal and professional relationships and become leaders in their workplace and community.
Dr. Wanzer has been teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in Interpersonal, Organizational, and Health communication for over 26 years. She has published 47 peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and books on topics such as humor and coping, health communication campaigns, interpersonal communication, and instructional communication. She is the advisor of The Association of Women/Men in Communication (AWMC) and in this role, she chaperones students on professional field trips to local organizations to learn more about communication careers. Members of AWMC have toured New Era, The Buffalo Bills, The Sabres, The Buffalo Zoo, and WNED to learn more about communication positions in these organizations. Members of AWMC also present competitively selected papers at The Eastern Communication Association convention where they can showcase their scholarship and network with communication professionals.
Dr. Wanzer has also worked on several research and multi media projects at Oishei Children’s Hospital. These collaborative projects resulted in top paper awards, presentations, and publications.