[KB] Sad News: Passing of Jim Chesebro

[Clarke Rountree]

Dear Burkelers:

I just got the sad news of Jim's passing from CRTNET. Jim was instrumental
in establishing the Kenneth Burke Society and leading its early
development. He was a strong voice in Burke studies and a gentleman.

David: please post this on the KB Journal website.

Bryan: should we have a panel remembering Jim at the KB conference?

Clarke

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Crtnet News <Crtnet at natcom.org>
Date: Wed, Jan 22, 2020 at 10:59 AM
Subject: CRTNET: Obituaries #17528
To: <CRTNET at lists.psu.edu>


January 22, 2020, Number 17528

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Obituary for Dr. James W. Chesebro (Submitted by David Mcmahan)
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David Mcmahan, mcmahan at missouriwestern.edu (submitter)

Obituary for Dr. James W. Chesebro

It is with tremendous sadness that I report the passing of Dr. James W.
Chesebro (Ph.D., University of Minnesota), Past President of the National
Communication Association (NCA).  He is survived by his loving husband,
Donald G. Bonsall, with whom he had shared his life since 1981.

With Jim’s passing, the discipline of communication has lost one of its
giants.  He dedicated himself to the promotion and development of the
discipline through his scholarship, through his extraordinary record of
service, and through the countless number of students and colleagues who
continue to be influenced by his exceptional teaching and guidance.

Among numerous additional awards for scholarship, service, and teaching,
Jim was the recipient of the National Communication Association Golden
Anniversary Monograph Award, the Samuel L. Becker Distinguished Service
Award, the Robert J. Kibler Memorial Award, the Donald H. Ecroyd Award for
Outstanding Teaching in Higher Education, the Wallace A. Bacon Lifetime
Teaching Excellence Award, the Everett Lee Hunt Award, the Eastern
Communication Association Distinguished Research Fellows Award, the Eastern
Communication Association Distinguished Teaching Fellows Award, the Kenneth
Burke Society Distinguished Service Award, the Kenneth Burke Society
Lifetime Achievement Award, the Speech Communication Association of Puerto
Rico Distinguished Service Award, and the Speech Communication Association
of Puerto Rico Outstanding Career in Research Award.

The James W. Chesebro Award for Scholarly Distinction in Sexuality Research
is presented in his honor by the Central States Communication Association
to scholars who have made significant contributions to the study of gender,
sexuality, and sexual identity.

With particular focus given to dramatism and to the study of media as
symbolic and cognitive systems, Jim’s scholarship spanned the discipline of
communication, resulting in significant contributions to multiple areas of
study and sometimes actually forging new areas of study.  His numerous
books include Gayspeak (1981), Computer-Mediated Communication (1989),
Methods of Rhetorical Criticism (1990), Extensions of the Burkeian System
(1993), Analyzing Media (1996), Communicating Power and Gender (2011),
Internet Communication (2014), and Introduction to Communication Criticism
(2017), in addition to other titles.  He published well over 100 journal
articles and book chapters.  And, he took part in over 350 convention
panels, including the presentation of nearly 200 convention papers.  His
sustained and extensive level of scholarship places him as one of the most
active scholars in the history of the discipline.

The revolutionary and visionary spirit of his scholarship was also evident
in his prolific service and leadership.  Dedicated to enhancing the
discipline of communication and expanding the scope of its influence, he
held over 200 service roles throughout his career.  He served as President
of the National Communication Association in 1996 and served on the
Executive Committee and Legislative Assembly over a sixteen-year period of
time.  He chaired the Publications Council from 1986 through 1988 and was
Director of Education Services for NCA from 1989 through 1992.  He had
earlier served as President of the Eastern Communication Association and
had co-founded the Speech Communication Association of Puerto Rico.  He
also served as editor of Communication Quarterly, Critical Studies in Media
Communication, and Review of Communication at various points throughout his
career.

Among his countless service contributions, Jim’s perhaps most significant
and personally important were changing the name of the national association
from the Speech Communication Association to the National Communication
Association and his commitment to cultural diversity and inclusion.

Maintaining that the association’s name should encompass the intellectual
diversity of its members and properly promote public understanding of the
association, Jim wrote a President’s column in the May 1996 issue of
Spectra entitled “SCA Should Change its Name—But to What?”  In what he
later admitted was perhaps not the most subtle move, the page facing his
column included a piece reporting focus group and survey results indicating
that 78% of members favored a name change, 14% opposed a name change, and
8% percent were undecided.  His November 1996 Spectra column argued for the
change to the National Communication Association.

Jim moved the discipline on more than one occasion, and his commitment to
cultural diversity and inclusion was central to his vision for the
discipline.  He was driven to make the discipline one that was open to all
voices.  At all levels and in all his capacities, he worked tirelessly to
make his vision of the discipline a reality.  He frequently encountered
opposition, but a true leader, he never gave up and never compromised
fighting for what was right.

Isolating even a few instances or initiatives would not do justice to all
that Jim achieved, but his words might convey the core of his convictions.
In his 1996 Presidential Address, employing the power and essence of the
NCA caucuses as his point of departure, he noted how multiculturalism
affects NCA and all of its members.  He focused specifically on

"how multiculturalism affects each of us as individual scholars within the
discipline of communication, how multiculturalism affects our sense of
organization and the sense of unity and division that goes with such
organizational schemes, how multiculturalism affects the policies and
actions of NCA, and finally how multiculturalism affects the definition of
NCA as a moral, ethical, and political professional education association"

He ended by his address by stating:

"In all, our dialogue needs to encourage and to respect the voices of all
NCA members, not in spite of their cultural orientation, but because of
their cultural identities.  The mix of diverse cultures in NCA, the respect
NCA members show for these diverse cultures, and the rich scholarship and
research that NCA sponsors in understanding these culture-based
communication systems, all can constitute the foundation for the unity that
makes NCA a community of scholars."

Reflecting on his time as President in a 2006 piece published in the Review
of Communication, he later noted:

"I continue to believe—more strongly than ever—that the strength,
creativity, and development of the National Communication Association will,
must, and should be shaped by its commitment to multiculturalism and
diversity in its governing philosophies, theories, methods, applications,
and performances.  …  In my view, multiculturalism and diversity are no
longer options when we deal with communication; multiculturalism and
diversity are now essential perspectives if we are to account for what
happens during virtually all communicative processes and outcomes."

In so many ways, Jim was a trailblazer and a giant on whose shoulders we
stand as we strive to continue and expand upon his vision for the
discipline.

For all that Jim gave to the discipline through his scholarship and
service, his work as an educator was especially meaningful.  First and
foremost, he was a teacher.  He was a teacher whose influence in the lives
and careers of his students is immeasurable and continues to this day.

Jim impacted countless students through his teaching and guidance.  Having
taught courses at a number of institutions, including Ball State
University, Indiana State University, North Dakota State University, George
Mason University, Queens College of the City University of New York,
University of Puerto Rico, Temple University, University of Minnesota, and
Concordia College, he taught a total of 61 different courses, including 20
graduate courses and 41 undergraduate courses.  Of these courses, he taught
approximately 200 different sections.  Perhaps most remarkable, as with his
scholarship, these courses spanned the entire discipline of communication.

Just prior to his retirement from the classroom, his most recent courses
had been “Foundations of Digital Storytelling” and “Digital Message
Analysis and Design.”  He was once again forging a new path for the
discipline of communication like he had done so often in the past.  At a
time when most people were just beginning to recognize the term, Jim had
already established one of the nation’s first master’s programs in Digital
Storytelling.

Jim’s dedication to teaching and academic success and the excitement with
which he approached learning were inspirational to each student who entered
his classroom.  He demonstrated genuine respect for all of his students and
viewed them as scholars and colleagues.  He wanted his students to not only
develop an understanding of communication but also contribute to its
advancement through their own scholarship, service, and teaching.  Through
his own example, he taught them how to be scholars, and above all else,
being a scholar meant working to make the discipline better.

Words cannot adequately convey the importance and scope of Jim’s influence
on the discipline of communication and in the lives of so many people both
directly and indirectly.  Quite simply, his groundbreaking scholarship,
visionary leadership, and passion for teaching and learning did make the
discipline better.  Ultimately, James W. Chesebro made the world better.
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-- 
Dr. Clarke Rountree
Professor of Communication Arts
212D CTC
University of Alabama in Huntsville
Huntsville, AL  35899
256-824-6646
clarke.rountree at uah.edu
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