Maeve O. McGuire, Lead Program Administrator
Maeve is a second-year MA student in the Department of Communication at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the current Lead Program Administrator for Engineer SPEAK. Before coming to UIUC, Maeve graduated from Iowa State University with a B.S. in Technical Communication and a B.A. in Communication Studies. While at Iowa State, she gained experience in teaching technical communication skills to engineering and business students as well as teaching a large-lecture course to college freshmen (LAS101). Now at UIUC, she continues this work of teaching and training engineering students in technical communication by leading the Engineer SPEAK program.
Blake Everett Johnson, Ph.D., Lead Engineering Consultant
Dr. Blake Everett Johnson is a Teaching Assistant Professor and Director of Undergraduate Instructional Laboratories in the Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Johnson holds M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. His research interests include experimental fluid mechanics, measurement science, engineering education, and professional identity development. He oversees undergraduate laboratories in fluid mechanics and heat transfer. Additional interests include teaching and leadership training for graduate students, enhancing communication education for undergraduate engineering students, developing evidence-based design project team formation strategies, and improving engineering design curricula.
Anna M. Wright, Ed.D., Lead Communication Consultant
Anna M. Wright, Ed.D., is an Instructional Assistant Professor and Director of Oral and Written Communication in the Department of Communication the at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Her research specialization is in Communication Education and Instructional Communication. She is particularly interested in best practices for teaching communication and how that understanding can enhance communication curriculum across grade levels. Prior to UIUC, Dr. Wright held positions at Illinois State University and Illinois College.
Ed.D., Teaching and Learning – Communication, Illinois State University
M.S., Communication Studies – Illinois State University
B.S., Communication Teacher Education – Illinois State University
Past Contributors
Grace A Giorgio, Ph.D., Previous Communication Consultant
Dr. Grace A. Giorgio holds a B.A. in the Humanities from the University of California, Berkeley (1986), a Masters in Cinema Studies from San Francisco State University (1995) and a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign (2001). Her research, writing and teaching examine communication practices in interpersonal and public domains with the intention of bridging the personal and the political. She studies the experimental use of qualitative research methods to investigate the intersection of self, culture, and the public sphere. Dr. Giorgio’s research interests branch into two directions: using writing as a method of inquiry to creatively and critically explore the cultural expectations and tensions in interpersonal and family communication contexts as well as writing, public speaking and debate as modes of civic engagement. Dr. Giorgio regularly teaches courses in public policy, gender studies and popular media and culture.
Katherine Bunsold, M.A., Previous Lead Program Administrator
Katherine Bunsold is Doctoral Student with the Communication Department. She hold a B.A. in Communication from Wittenberg University and M.A. in Communication from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Katherine has been a Graduate Teaching Assistant for three years teaching both CMN 101: Public Speaking and CMN 111/112 Written and Oral Communication. She is a previous Lead Program Administrator for the EngineerSPEAK program.