Year Inducted: 1998
Diana B. Carlin, Professor of Communication Studies at the University of Kansas, is a national expert in political debates. Her research in political and gendered communication has yielded eight books or monographs and many other publications.
She received both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Education from the University of Kansas. She taught and coached the debate teams at Rossville High and Topeka High Schools before serving for two years as the Middle School Coordinator for the Topeka Public School District. She then completed her PhD in Speech Communication at the University of Nebraska. After teaching for five years at Washburn University in Topeka, she returned to KU as a faculty member in 1987. She served as Interim Chair of the Department of Communication Studies from 1997-98 and Interim Assistant Provost for KU from 1999-2000. In 2000, she was named the Dean of the Graduate School and International Programs at KU. She held this position until 2007, when she spent one year as Dean-in-Residence and Director of International Outreach for the Council of Graduate Schools in Washington, DC. Other “careers” have included serving as Assistant to the Governor of the State of Kansas from 1984-87 and the Co-owner and Vice President of Clark Publishing Co. from 1991-2001.
She significantly contributed to the U.S. electoral system through her research on political debates which reshaped the structure of the U.S. debates. As a member of the Commission on Presidential Debates since its inception in 1987, Dr. Carlin has led research efforts on the effectiveness of debates on voter education. She organized a team of researchers, “one of the largest and one of the first team-based research projects in political communication in the country,” whose findings were incorporated by sponsors of the U.S. Presidential debates. Debate Watch, the CPD’s national voter education projects involving over 130 national organizations from the U.S. and abroad, resulted from her 1992 focus group’s research. Due to both her experience in political debates and international programs, Dr. Carlin has visited several new democracies in Central and South America, Africa, South Korea, and Eastern Europe to help them develop political debate traditions. These debates were the most effective way to educate voters and influence election outcomes.
Dr. Carlin was the first woman to head the Office of International Programs at the University at KU. The Global Awareness Program (GAP) was initiated during her tenure and is currently being replicated at universities in both the U.S. and Europe. Other work through this position has included a collaboration with East Asian Studies to create the Confucius Institute. This program which provides language and culture classes to Kansans of all ages has brought considerable international attention to KU. She also was a part of projects that included implementing the Korean War Memorial and developing an International House for visiting international scholars.
Aside from being in the KU Women’s Hall of Fame, she was also named a KU Woman of Distinction. She is the recipient of a Kemper Fellowship, the Mortar Board Outstanding Educator Award, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Graduate Mentor Award, and the TIAA-CREF Faculty Award. On the regional level, she received the Outstanding Faculty Award from the Central States Communication Association, of which she has also served as President. Other prominent organization memberships have included Chair of the Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools, Chair of the NAFSA: Association of International Educators Task Force on the Bologna Process, Chair for Kids Voting Kansas, and a Board Member of the President’s Advisory Committee on the Arts of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Dr. Carlin was also honored with the Steeples Award for Service to Kansans.
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