James McCroskey’s Memorial (1966-2012)
Posted on Jan 30, 2013 in News
The Communication Department lost a very important member to their team. James McCroskey, “Father of Modern Communication Theory”, died on December 27, 2012 due to pneumonia.
McCroskey left an impact by furthering theories in the communication field. UAB
He made significant advances in the way we view the communication model.
“Jim not only wanted to influence the field, he ‘did’ influence the field,” comments colleague Mark Hickinson.
Before teaching at UAB, McCroskey was a professor at University of Virginia in Richmond. However, UAB was his host when he developed most of his notorious theories.
His theories addressed communicative anxiety (Stage Fright), interpersonal attraction, and matrix variables.
He also changed the mindset from subjective analysis of communication to quantitative measured variables.
In the lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Eastern Communication Association James C. McCroskey and Virginia P. Richmond Undergraduate Scholars Conference.
The memorial will be held Tuesday, January 22 at 7:30 p.m. in the Heritage Hall Building, Room 102. Speakers will be McCroskey’s colleagues.
McCroskey’s friends and students will continue to be enlightened by his great works.
Carlene Robinson
Staff Editor
news@insideuab.com
This story was corrected since its first posting.
In last week’s story, some information was found incorrect. Jim McCroskey was at West Virginia for most of his career, not University of Virginia at Richmond. The majority of his research occurred at WVU, not UAB. He was semi-retired when he arrived at UAB. McCroskey and his wife Virginia moved here in 2007.