Dr. Ed Malone has won the 2012 NCTE/CCCC Technical and Scientific Communication Award in the category of Best Article Reporting Historical Research or Textual Studies in Technical and Scientific Communication for “Chrysler’s ‘Most Beautiful Engineer’: Lucille J. Pieti in the Pillory of Fame.” Dr. Malone’s article appeared in Volume 19 Issue 2 of Technical Communication Quarterly.

Professor Jack Morgan has been awarded the 2011 Michael J. Durkan Prize for Books on Language and Culture for his New World Irish: Notes on One Hundred Years of Lives and Letters in American Culture (Palgrave 2011). The Durkan Prize is awarded by the American Conference for Irish Studies.

Our Technical Communication degree programs were given
invaluable publicity this past July, when the MS in Technical Communication was
one of 12 listed in an article in Nature.
Nature is one of the most-read
academic science publications worldwide, well-known to many of the researchers
on our campus, as well as alumni. Program director Kathryn Northcut, an
associate professor in the Department of English and Technical Communication,
expressed her feelings about the coverage: “Being listed as one of twelve
programs really validates our efforts to make our program visible and
respected.” The article, titled “The best words in the best order,” appeared in
the Careers section of Nature.

According to Northcut, the article’s main point was that
technical writing is a viable career option for communication-savvy scientists.
Northcut confirms that opportunities for technical communicators may be
greatest when a humanities or social science degree can be combined with
technical education or industry experience. “We’ve had several successful
students who majored in engineering or science as undergrads and then sought a
master’s degree to propel their career toward the same industries but in a different
track. Of course, some students move only through English and tech com programs
and land good jobs as well.” Northcut pointed out that the article reports
technical communication salary figures, which are highly competitive. “The only
negative point was that women still earn less than men across certain careers
in technical communication,” Northcut noted, “but with such information, we can
help our students understand why they must not only be competent, but also
strategically manage their careers and continually hone their negotiation
skills. Our program is extremely diverse, with much higher female enrollment
than most programs on campus, and we directly address diversity issues with our
students.” 

The technical communication program at S&T is the only
graduate degree offered in the arts and humanities, but the technical
communication bachelor’s is one of many non-engineering degrees offered here,
along with psychology, economics, history, philosophy, English, and business.
“We are a university, not just an engineering school,” Northcut says. “Our
faculty and programs are recognized nationally, not solely in engineering.”

For more information about Missouri S&T’s technical
communication degree programs, contact Northcut at 431-4687 or email northcut@mst.edu. Information is available
on the web at http://english.mst.edu/graduatedegreeprograms/gradtechcom.html. 

Five faculty members in the Department of English and Technical Communication received awards recently for the work they’ve done on campus. Jack Morgan and Dan Reardon both received 2010 Faculty Achievement Awards. Anne Cotterill and Eric Bryan both received 2010 Faculty Teaching Awards. And Kathy Northcut received a 2010 Academic Service Learning Award. The campus hosted a nice dinner on February 8 for the award winners and their guests. It was wonderful to see these faculty members recognized for the important work they do.