Stephanie Ricker Schulte, professor and chair of the Department of Communication in the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, has been named the 2022 recipient of the Michael M. Osborn Teacher-Scholar Award from the Southern States Communication Association.

The Osborn Award honors SSCA members who "have balanced professional careers, having achieved excellence in teaching, scholarship and service." Schulte's research explores how political practices, industry norms and cultural products shape the communication technologies many of us use every day. Ron Warren, associate professor and vice chair of the Department of Communication, noted, "In her nearly 15 years on our faculty, Dr. Schulte's research has been internationally recognized as among the best in the fields of communication and American studies."

In addition to her widely-acclaimed book Cached: Decoding the Internet in Global Popular Culture (NYU Press, 2013), Schulte has published articles in a variety of top-tier journals, including International Journal of Communication, European Journal of Cultural Studies, Journal of Television and New Media, Journal of Transnational American Studies, Mass Communication and Society, Feminist Studies, American Behavioral Scientist, Journal of Communication, American Studies and Journal of New Media and Culture.

Schulte is the fifth person from the Department of Communication at the U of A to win this award. Previous winners include Tom Frentz (1997), Janice Rushing (2001), Myria W. Allen (2019) and Stephen A. Smith (2021).

About the Southern States Communication Association (SSCA): Our purpose is to promote the study, criticism, research, teaching, and application of the artistic, humanistic, and scientific principles of communication. SSCA, a not-for-profit organization, exists for educational, scientific, and literary purposes only.