Matthew Seeger
Matthew W. Seeger (born June 17, 1957 in Greenfield, Indiana) is Dean of Wayne State University’s College of Fine, Performing & Communication Arts and Professor of Communication. Education. Matthew W. Seeger completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Evansville in 1979. It was here that Seeger developed a passion for crisis communication while covering the Air Indiana Flight 2016 crash that was carrying the University of Evansville’s basketball team, the Purple Aces. Soon after, he received his M.A. in Communication Theory from Northern Illinois University in 1980. In 1983, Seeger received his Ph.D. in Communication Theory  and Research from Indiana University. Career. Seeger was appointed Dean of Wayne State University’s College of Fine, Performing & Communication Arts in 2011. Prior to the appointment, Dean Seeger served as an Assistant Dean of Wayne State University’s Graduate School, and Chair of the Department of Communication. Academic Interests. Dean Seeger’s research concerns crisis communication and risk communication, health promotion and communication, crisis response and agency coordination, the role of media, including new media, crisis and communication ethics, failure of complex systems and post-crisis renewal. Seeger helped develop the discourse of renewal theory “as a framework that  emphasizes learning from the crisis, ethical communication, communication that is prospective in nature, and effective organizational rhetoric." He is the author/co-author of several books, including The Handbook of International Crisis Communication Research; Effective risk communication: A message-centered approach; Organizational communication ethics: Decisions and dilemmas, Theorizing Crisis Communication, Narratives of crisis: Telling stories of ruin and renewal, Communication in times of trouble and Communication and Organizational Crisis. He has published over 200 peer-reviewed journal articles and chapters. He was the founding editor of The Journal of International Crisis and Risk Communication Research (JICRCR). Seeger assisted in the  development of the Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication framework for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization risk communication guidelines. Seeger also participated in major investigations of the Flint water crisis.