Dean, College of Communication

Gary R. Edgerton became the first permanent dean of the 2-year-old Butler College of Communication in August 2012. Previously, he was eminent scholar, professor, and chair of Communication and Theatre Arts at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va.

Edgerton oversaw degree programs in communication, theatre, and dance at Old Dominion. He also taught and held administrative positions at Bowling Green State University and Goucher College before joining Old Dominion

Edgerton earned his Bachelor of Arts in English and History from the College of the Holy Cross (1974), and his Master of Arts in Communication (1979), as well as his doctorate in communication (1981), both from the University of Massachusetts.

As a scholar, Edgerton is credited with shaping the emergence and growth of comparative media and cultural studies during the last 30 years. He has published 11 books, including Mad Men: Dream Come True TV (2011),The Essential HBO Reader (2008), and Ken Burns's America (2001). He was chosen by Columbia University Press to write The Columbia History of American Television; in 2008, the book won the John G. Cawelti Book Award of the American Culture Association for Outstanding Scholarly Inquiry into American Cultural Studies.

Edgerton has also written more than 80 essays on an assortment of media and culture topics in a variety of books, scholarly journals, and encyclopedias. He is the co-executive editor of the Journal of Popular Film and Television, has delivered more than 100 conference and keynote presentations, and averages two dozen commentaries a year since 1990 across a wide spectrum of international and national newspapers, magazines, television, radio, and Internet outlets.

In 2004, he received the American Culture Association Governing Board Award for Outstanding Contributions to American Cultural Studies.