Nicholson School of Communication and Media (NSCM) Associate Professor Ann Miller, Ph.D., is no stranger to awards and recognition. Miller’s most recent accolade was the second annual NSCM Advisory Board Outstanding Educator Award for 2018.
“I think the creation of this award last year is a sign of the commitment NSCM has to promoting and recognizing faculty accomplishments,” Miller said. “I honestly consider myself blessed to be in a unit that is so collegial and provides such strong support for faculty development in both teaching and research.”
The NSCM Advisory Board awards one faculty member whose professional career in higher education is impressive. Faculty members submit their applications to receive this award and members of the advisory board vote on the winner. The NSCM Advisory Board has found that Miller’s teaching, research and service to be of the highest quality. Miller was presented with a plaque and an award of $1,000 for professional travel, books and instructional materials, faculty development or startup support for research projects.
Miller graduated from the University of Georgia and holds a doctorate in communication. Before coming to UCF, she served as a lecturer and later as senior lecturer of communication for over a decade at Daystar University in Nairobi, Kenya.
While in Kenya, Miller researched on self-disclosure of positive diagnosis of HIV, for which she was awarded the Gerald R. Miller Dissertation Award. She has since established research programs on intercultural factors in health communication, instructional communication and scholarly productivity of communication faculty in sub-Saharan Africa.
Miller is a member of the editorial board for the Journal of International and Intercultural Communication and Communication Education. She has published more than 35 articles in the Journal of International and Intercultural Communication, Health Communication, Journal of Health Communication, AIDS and Behavior, and Communication Education, and co-edited a scholarly volume.
In addition to the NSCM Advisory Board Outstanding Educator Award, Miller recently received the Faculty Excellence’s Teaching Incentive Program (TIP) Award, as well as a UCF Luminary Award and Research Incentive Award (RIA) for excellence in research.
Miller currently serves as the interim director of the Karen L Smith Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning.
Robert Littlefield, Ph.D., NSCM director, praised Miller.
“We are very fortunate to have among our faculty someone who has been identified as a leader in teaching, research and service,” Littlefield said. “This award was created by the Advisory Board as a way to demonstrate the support for the faculty. I’m very pleased to see ongoing encouragement from this group to recognize faculty who are striving for excellence.”
Boyd Lindsley, Ed.D., who serves as NSCM senior associate director, agreed with Littlefield’s sentiments.
“Dr. Miller is the real deal and the whole package. She is an excellent teacher, a revered scholar and always willing to step in and provide support in myriad service functions,” Lindsley said. “Atop that, she is such a smart, kind and affable person. She makes NSCM and the university a better place and is most deserving of this award.”