Charles E. Morris III, professor and chair of the Department of Communication and Rhetorical Studies in the College of Visual and Performing Arts and affiliated professor of LGBT studies in the College of Arts and Sciences, received the 2021 Douglas W. Ehninger Distinguished Rhetorical Scholar Award from the National Communication Association (NCA).

The Ehninger Award is presented annually to honor scholars who have executed research programs in rhetorical theory, rhetorical criticism and/or public address studies. As one of the early scholars of queer studies in rhetoric, Morris has shaped the field with extraordinary boldness and engagement. His body of research in historic public address has transformed the field, both through the recovery of otherwise neglected GLBTQ rhetoric and through working to queer our understanding of rhetorical theory and criticism. With numerous peer-reviewed articles in NCA journals, many of them selected as exemplary by awards committees and editors, Morris has executed a research program with a lasting influence on the field.

“NCA’s annual awards honor communication scholars’ teaching, scholarship and service,” NCA Interim Executive Director Linda Taliaferro, CAE, says. “NCA is proud to recognize Dr. Morris’s significant contributions to the communication discipline with this award.”

Morris’s award will be presented on Nov. 20 at the NCA 107th Annual Convention in Seattle.

The NCA previously recognized Morris with two Distinguished Scholar Awards, one in 2020 from the organization’s Critical and Cultural Studies Division and one in 2017 from the Rhetorical and Communication Theory Division. Morris is also a two-time recipient (2003, 2010) of the NCA Golden Monograph Award for article of the year, and he is founding co-editor of “QED: A Journal in GLBTQ Worldmaking” published by Michigan State University Press.

The NCA advances communication as the discipline that studies all forms, modes, media and consequences of communication through humanistic, social scientific and aesthetic inquiry. NCA serves the scholars, teachers and practitioners who are its members by enabling and supporting their professional interests in research and teaching.