12/11/97

ATHENS, Ohio -- Ohio University Professor Raymie E. McKerrow has been elected second vice president of the National Communication Association, a position that puts him in line to serve as president of the 7,000-member organization in two years.

McKerrow, 53, teaches graduate courses in rhetorical theory and undergraduate courses in persuasion and argumentation in OU's School of Interpersonal Communication in Athens.

The NCA promotes study, criticism, research, teaching and applications of the principles of communications. Its membership includes faculty members and others interested in various aspects of communication.

McKerrow took office as second vice president at the group's national convention in Chicago in late November. He will become first vice president in 1999 and president in 2000. In his vice presidential roles, McKerrow will plan the group's 1999 convention. As president, he hopes to establish an awards program for underrepresented members, including minorities and those unable to attend the group's conventions, and initiate discussion of how the tenure of faculty members is affected by the use of their writings on the World Wide Web.

McKerrow joined Ohio University in 1995 after almost 20 years as a faculty member at the University of Maine. He earned his bachelor's degree in 1966 at Southern Illinois University, his master's in 1968 at Colorado State University and his Ph.D. in 1974 at the University of Iowa.