Institute for Strategic Communication for Nonprofits
Centers, Institutes & Programs >> Institute for Strategic Communication for Nonprofits
American University School of Communication Bios
Chris Haws
Chris Haws is the Director of the WETA / CPB News Academy and serves on the Advisory Board of the Discovery Channel Global Education Partnership. In 2004, he was invited to become an Adjunct Professor at the School of Communications at American University in Washington, DC, where he teaches International Media Studies. He has been an active participant in the international film and television production community for three decades. During that time, he has written, directed and produced a host of award winning documentaries for the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Discovery, PBS, ABC and many other broadcasters around the world.
Larry Kirkman
SOC Dean since 2001, working with 45 faculty and 1200 students in film and media arts, public communication and journalism, with a cross-cutting focus on public service and public affairs, a global perspective, and commitment to building a vigorous and inclusive public culture. Under his direction, SOC has set up the Center for Social Media, Center for Environmental Filmmaking, and Institute for Strategic Communication for Nonprofits, established partnerships with The Washington Post, Newseum, AFI, and Center for Public Integrity and created the Reel Journalism and Political Comedy film festivals. He launched the US Center for oneworld.net (now based at AU) and chaired the international network from 2002-2006. As director of the Benton Foundation, from 1989 to 2001, he created programs in communication for nonprofit organizations, public media, and communication policy. Under his direction, Benton produced online knowledge networks that served as test beds for journalism, education, and social action, including, Connect for Kids, a major Advertising Council campaign, receiving more than $300 million in donated media. At Benton, he co-edited a series of media guides, Strategic Communications for Nonprofits, and produced the international Advocacy Video Conference. Prior to Benton, Kirkman was responsible for the AFL-CIO’s Union Yes advertising campaign and public television series, America Works. As the first director of TV and video programs at the American Film Institute, he produced the National Video Festival. In the 1970s, he produced documentaries for public TV and government programs, was an editor of TeleVisions magazine, and a founder of Los Angeles Newsreel and the LA Public Access Project.
Dotty Lynch
Dotty Lynch is an Executive-in-Residence at American University’s School of Communication and a Political Analyst for CBS News. She stepped down at the end of 2005 as the Senior Political Editor of CBS News, where she covered politics for 20 years. The 2008 election marks Lynch's 11th Presidential campaign as a professional journalist and pollster. She continues as a member of the CBS News Election Decision Desk and is an on air analyst for CBS Radio. Lynch often appears on C-Span, the News Hour with Jim Lehrer and NPR as well as CBS Radio.
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Matt Nisbet
Matt Nisbet is a social scientist who currently serves on the faculty of American University’s School of Communication where he teaches courses in political communication, communication & society, graduate research and communication theory. He studies the nature and impact of strategic communication and is the author of Documentaries on a Mission: How Nonprofits Are Making Movies for Public Engagement.
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Chris Palmer
Chris Palmer is an environmental and wildlife film producer who has spent 25 years producing original programming for primetime television and the film industry. He joined the faculty of American University’s School of Communication in 2004, where he established the Center for Environmental Filmmaking. He has a B.S., with First Class Honors, in Mechanical Engineering and an M.S. in Ocean Engineering and Naval Architecture from University College London, and a second master’s degree in Public Administration from Harvard University where he was a Kennedy Scholar.
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