George Barnett, U of California-Davis, was selected to receive the prestigious B. Aubrey Fisher Mentorship Award at ICA's 62nd Annual Conference in Phoenix. The Award recognizes outstanding scholars, teachers, and advisors who serve as role models in those capacities and who have had a major impact on the field of communication, by virtue both of their own accomplishments and those of their former students.
"Barnett has been a passionate teacher who cares for deepening student learning and takes the extra time to customize the challenge for each student with whom he works," said Patti M. Valkenburg, Chair of the Fisher Mentorship Award Committee."He has advised over 40 PhD theses and 35 MA theses. This number is truly remarkable and certainly not equaled by many colleagues in our field. For more than 3 decades, Dr. Barnett has established exceptional scholastic relations with his students. His nomination letter was accompanied by 27 recommendation letters of former students."
"George's work in organizational communication intercultural communication, political communication and media effects, is systematic, meticulous, and insightful. His enthusiasm for big ideas and innovative research has always attracted large numbers of students…In sum, Dr. Barnett embodies every aspect of excellence in mentorship, teaching and scholarship," Valkenburg added.
Barnett is currently Professor and Chair of the Department Communication at the U of California - Davis. His current research focuses on cognitive, communication and social networks from both a methodological perspective and a variety of substantive applications including the sociology of the field of communication, organizational processes, and international and intercultural communication where his research focuses on international telecommunications flows. Currently, he is serving as President of the International Network for Social Network Analysis and the Editor of The International Encyclopedia of Social Networking.
Barnett was presented with the award on 26 May 2012 during ICA's 62nd Annual International Conference in Phoenix, Ariz., USA.
