CCI Faculty Retirements: Ed Caudill and Ron Taylor
Two CCI faculty members will retire on July 31 with a combined 67 years of service to the college and university: Journalism and Electronic Media Professor Ed Caudill and Advertising and Public Relations Professor Ron Taylor.
JEM Professor Ed Caudill, who came to UT in 1985, is the author of nine books with a tenth in progress. His research and publishing includes book chapters, refereed articles and papers, conference papers and many invited lectures.
In 2013, Caudill received the Choice award for Outstanding Academic Title for his book, Intelligently Designed: How Creationists Built the Campaign Against Evolution. The College presented him with its Faculty Research Award in 1998, 1990 and 1988.
He also received a number of grants for his research work and contributed to the National Endowment for the Humanities Tennessee Newspaper Digitalization Project.
Caudill’s service to the College included Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Research, Acting Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Studies and as a member of the merger committee for the College of Communications and the School of Information Sciences that resulted in formation of the College of Communication and Information.
Caudill, who becomes a professor emeritus on August 1, is co-authoring his next book with JEM Professor Emeritus Paul Ashdown – Mediated Legend: Wild Bill Hickok, the fifth volume in their book series on Civil War era figures. The book should be ready for publication in mid-2019.
Caudill received his PhD in Mass Communications from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, his Masters in Journalism from Ohio State University and his bachelor’s from the University of Cincinnati in English Literature.
ADPR Professor Ron Taylor will become a professor emeritus on August 1, 2018 after 34 1/2 years of distinguished service to the University of Tennessee.
Taylor’s extensive research includes a long list of journal articles, book chapters, conference papers and guest speaker invitations. He was awarded several grants for his research work and received recognition for his research from multiple advertising professional organizations.
In 2013, he received the Charles H. Sandage Excellence in Teaching Award, an international award given by the American Academy of Advertising. The College presented him with its Outstanding Faculty Member Award in 1985 and its Outstanding Research Award in 1999 and 1995.
“For me personally, it has been very rewarding to have had the opportunity to teach hundreds of undergraduate and graduate students who have gone on to be very successful in advertising and in academe,” said Taylor. “Daily interaction with 20-something-year-olds keeps you in touch with a very vibrant segment of society. I am encouraged about the future by their optimism and zest for life.”
Taylor served as the inaugural director of the School of Advertising and Public Relations from 2003-2011 and as the head of the Department of Advertising from 1984-2003. Under his leadership and with the financial and moral support of graduates and the Board of Visitors, the national reputation and profile of both the undergraduate and graduate advertising programs at UT were enhanced. In 1996 US News and World Report ranked UT as the eighth best graduate advertising program in the country. At the time, the school was one of three graduate programs at UT ranked and the only one in the top ten of its field.
Long-time CCI Board of Visitors member David Bohan (BS/BA ’70), chairman of Bohan Advertising/Marketing in Nashville said, “I have known and respected Ron for his entire UTK career. He led the charge in reorganizing the department to include public relations, expanding the faculty and improving the program offerings. He oversaw the program for many years; generating with his colleagues significant academic recognition to the College and the University.”
Taylor received his PhD and Master’s in communications from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and an AB in journalism from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.