Beverly Davenport Sypher

Research

Dr. Sypher's current focus on civil discourse grows out of long-standing interests in communicative choices and abilities and their role in creating healthy and satisfying workplaces. In addition to numerous research articles and book chapters, Sypher has published three books: Case Studies in Organizational Communication Volumes I and II and Destructive Organizational Communication, co-edited with Pamela Lutgen-Sandvik. Her own work in these volumes focuses on the introduction of new technology, the symbolic-expressive aspects of leadership, and the relative predictability of civility on organizational and interpersonal trust. Beverly’s research also spans health and technology fields including funded evaluation research for health related entertainment-education in the Peruvian Amazon and social constructionist explanations of telehospice and telemedicine projects in the U.S.

Representative Publications

• Sypher, B.D. & Gill, M. (2009) Incivility and organizational trust. In P. Lutgen-Sandvik & B.D. Sypher, (Eds.) Destructive organizational communication. New York: Routledge Press.
• Whitten, P. & Sypher, B.D. (2006) Evolution of telemedicine from an applied communication perspective in the United States. Telemedicine and e-Health, 12, 590-601.
• Sypher, B.D. (2004) Reclaiming civil discourse in the workplace. Southern Communication Journal, 69, 3, 257-269. Finalist for the Rose B. Johnson SCJ Article Award.
• Sypher, B.D., McKinley, M., Ventsam, S. & Elias, E. (2002) Fostering reproductive health through entertainment-education in the Peruvian Amazon: The social construction of Bienvenida Salud! Communication Theory, 12, 2, 196-206.
• Shuler, S. & Sypher, B.D. (2000) Seeking emotional labor: When managing the heart enhances the work experience. Management Communication Quarterly, 14, 50-89

Teaching

Dr. Sypher was awarded the University of Kansas prestigious Kemper Fellowship for Excellence in Teaching along with the National Communication Association's Ecroyd Award for Outstanding Teaching. She has been honored with a number of other teaching awards from Mortar Board, Phi Beta Kappa, Order of Omega, the Department of Communication, and Students in Communication Studies and was a three-time finalist for the HOPE award given by the senior class for excellence in teaching at the University of Kansas.  While at the University of Kentucky, Beverly also was named a University Great Teacher.

Administrative Appointments

In addition to Dr. Sypher's faculty appointment in the Department of Communication, she is the Associate Provost for Special Initiatives and the Susan Bulkeley Butler Chair for Leadership Excellence. Prior to coming to Purdue she was Senior Fellow in the Office of the Provost at Virginia Tech University and Divisional Dean for the Social Sciences at the University of Kansas.

Sypher also has been the PI on more than $6 million in grants from the Department of Education to provide academic support services for first generation and low income students or students with disabilities. While at the University of Kansas, she was Director of the Dean's Scholars Program, a grant funded scholarship and mentoring program for high ability minority students interested in pursuing graduate school.