Letter From the Chair: Tim Groeling

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Dear Alumni, Students and Friends of the UCLA Communication Studies Department-Hello from all of us in Comm Studies. As the new Chair of the Communication Studies Department, I would like to welcome you to the inaugural edition of this semiannual newsletter (http://commstudies.ucla.edu/newsletter). We plan to use this newsletter to share with you–our students, alumni and closest friends–recent notable news and achievements in the department. We also invite you all to become Fans of the Communication Studies Department on Facebook (facebook.com/UCLACommStudies), which we hope will become an easy and convenient way for you to keep up on happenings here in Comm Studies.Since last year, the Communication Studies Department has:Officially become a full Department at UCLA Hired several new assistant professors, including Kyu Hahn, Kerri Johnson, and Greg BryantEstablished a new state-of-the-art experimental lab for studying communicationExpanded our Communications Studies Archive, which is now among the finest such collection in the world, andGraduated our largest ever class of Comm Studies majorsIn our inaugural issue, my colleague Dee Bridgewater profiles Communications alum and entertainment executive, David Neuman ’83, about how Comm Studies helped prepare him for his distinguished career in television and beyond.  Dee also interviews Mustafa Abdul-Hamid, a UCLA basketball player and member of the graduating class of 2010, who talks about how he will use his Comm Studies education in his future. Dee then interviews yours truly about my background, teaching, and the current state of Communication Studies at UCLA.Lastly, I’d like to invite you to visit our Giving page, where you can help assure and enhance the future of Communication Studies at UCLA and give back.  Gifts to our Department are tax deductible and have a lasting contribution to our educational mission.And speaking of giving, I’d like to take a moment to thank my predecessor Paul Rosenthal for his service as Chair of the Department.  Paul’s tireless efforts in service of the department will be a tough act to follow, and I look forward to continuing to receive his guidance as I start my term as Chair.Thank you all for your support, and we look forward to hearing from you!Tim Groeling, Chair, UCLA Communication Studies Department