Rich West

Dr. Rich West’s scholarship and intellectual trajectory tend to intersect family, communication, and sexual identity. He has also written in the area of classroom communication, and has been recognized as a “Leading Scholar” in classroom communication by the Communication Institute for Online Scholarship.

He is the co-author of several books in multiple editions, including Understanding Interpersonal Communication: Making Choices in Changing Times, Perspectives on Family Communication, 5th edition (2018), translated into three languages, and Introducing Communication Theory: Analysis and Applications, 8th edition (2024), which has been published in eight languages. He is also the co-author of the globally-recognized book, An Introduction to Communication, which was published by Cambridge University Press.

Dr. West has served as co-editor of The Routledge Handbook of Communication and Bullying, described as the “first published collection of communication research on one of our world’s most pressing cultural issues.” The National Communication Association recognized the compendium as “Outstanding Book in Applied Communication.” His most recent co-edited anthology is a collection of research studies authored by scholars from 18 states and six countries. He is currently analyzing data related to the relationship between lesbian-headed households and school districts.

Dr. West is a former president of the National Communication Association (NCA), an 8,000-member organization that promotes the teaching, research, and application of communication. He is also a past president of the Eastern Communication Association (ECA), the oldest professional communication organization in the country. In 2023, the NCA honored him with the Samuel L. Becker Award for Distinguished Service in both the Association and the Communication discipline.

He was awarded Emerson’s prestigious Norman and Irma Mann Stearns distinction and was recognized as Distinguished Faculty. In addition, NCA bestowed its Bernard J. Brommel Award in Family Communication for his family communication research. In 2026, Rich was selected to receive the prestigious Elizabeth G. Andersch award for teaching, research, and mentorship.

Rich’s research has been featured in a number of very diverse media outlets including the Washington Post, Globe & Mail, Boston Globe, AARP Magazine, New England Cable Network, Vanity Fair, USA Today, PBS, WBZ, Christian Science Monitor, NPR, and CBS News among many others.