Ryan Neville-Shepard, associate professor in the Department of Communication in the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, was recently named the recipient of the Outstanding Mentor in Master's Education Award by the National Communication Association's Master's Education Section.

The annual award honors one faculty member in an M.A. program in the United States who has made positive contributions to graduate education. Neville-Shepard was selected due to his commitment to graduate teaching, research mentorship and career advising.  

Since joining the U of A in 2016, Neville-Shepard has taught graduate courses in Rhetorical Criticism, Presidential Rhetoric and Interpretive Research Methods. He has also taught specialized graduate courses in Legal Communication, Political Communication and Conspiracy Rhetoric. He has served as the director of graduate studies for the Department of Communication since the summer of 2019.

Students who have worked closely with Neville-Shepard have been recognized for their research excellence. Papers initially written as assignments in his graduate seminars have routinely received top paper awards from the Southern States Communication Association (SSCA) and the National Communication Association (NCA).

His thesis advisees have also earned accolades. Elizabeth Ashley Clayborn, a 2018 graduate of the M.A. program, won two national thesis awards, including NCA's Master's Education Division's Top Rhetoric Thesis Award as well as the NCA American Studies Division's Top Thesis Award.

Praising Neville-Shepard's mentorship, Clayborn stated, "He has consistently demonstrated a love of engaged teaching and instilled a passion for learning in his students. He is a dynamic scholar and teacher, a supportive mentor and colleague, and he is consistently willing to go above and beyond for his students." 

"He is one of the most engaging educators I have ever encountered. And he knows how to teach students how to succeed in academia," she added.

Neville-Shepard said that he is honored to have received the award, especially since one thing that attracted him to the U of A was the opportunity to work with graduate students.

"I am proud to be part of a program that has been recognized as one of the top M.A. programs in the country. I have been lucky to work with such terrific students. On top of that, I've been incredibly fortunate to learn from so many of my colleagues who have also been recognized as outstanding mentors," he said.

About the National Communication Association: The National Communication Association advances communication as the discipline that studies all forms, modes, media, and consequences of communication through humanistic, social scientific, and aesthetic inquiry. The association serves the scholars, teachers, and practitioners who are its members by enabling and supporting their professional interests in research and teaching. Dedicated to fostering and promoting free and ethical communication, the National Communication Association promotes the widespread appreciation of the importance of communication in public and private life, the application of competent communication to improve the quality of human life and relationships, and the use of knowledge about communication to solve human problems. For more information, visit natcom.org.