Anita Taylor papers , 1950-2016

Dr. Anita Taylor is professor emerita of communication and a member of the women and gender studies faculty at George Mason University.

Taylor was born during the dust bowl on a farm in southern Kansas. She earned a B.S. in sociology from Kansas State University in 1957, an M.S. in speech from Kansas State University in 1959, and a Ph.D. in public address and history from the University of Missouri in 1971.

Taylor coached debate, taught, or worked in administration at the university level for more than 45 years, 25 of which were at George Mason University, where she was the founding chair of the Communication Department. She retired from full-time teaching in 2004.

Widely known as a leader, writer, speaker, and workshop leader in communication, Taylor's scholarship focuses on gender and language in communication, women as communicators, and speaking in public. Taylor is the author of many articles, books, speeches, and teaching and learning materials. Her first book, Communicating, was published in six editions. She edited several publications and served as executive editor of the self-supporting research periodical Women and Language from 1989 until 2010.

Active in several professional organizations, Taylor became president of the National Communication Association in 1981, where she had been one of the founders of its Women's Caucus in 1971. In 1991, she received the Speech Communication Association's first Francine Merritt award for her contributions to the improvement of the professional lives of women in the profession and the association. In 1996, she was named Communicator of the Year by the Virginia Association of Communication Arts and Sciences. In 2000, she received the Distinguished Service Award from the National Communication Association. In 2002, she was selected as the inaugural Feminist Teacher/Mentor by the Organization for the Study of Communication, Language and Gender.

Source:

George Mason University. (n.d.). Anita Taylor. https://communication.gmu.edu/people/ataylor