Professor of Communication Marya Doerfel, a noted scholar and acclaimed teacher at the School of Communication and Information, Rutgers University-New Brunswick, has been named chair of the school’s Communication Department, effective July 1, 2022.

“We are delighted that Marya Doerfel will lead the department of communication,” Incoming Interim Dean and Distinguished Professor of Journalism and Media Studies Dafna Lemish said. “Marya is committed to furthering the mission of Rutgers University, encouraging and enabling our students to reach their fullest potential, furthering scholarship at the highest level, and acting as a role model and mentor to students and young scholars alike. She will be joining an outstanding team of chairs and associate deans who are all looking forward to continuing to contribute to the collaborative and collegial leadership of the school.”

Much of Doerfel’s field research takes place in areas where environmental conditions disrupt interorganizational networks, and thus entire communities. Her work focuses on how organizations build and sustain relationships across sectors during and after environmental disasters. Her investigations of organizational and community communication networks in areas where natural disasters have devastated physical and social infrastructures like New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina, New Jersey coast communities following Superstorm Sandy, and Houston following Hurricane Harvey, demonstrates the crucial role that communication plays in facilitating rebuilding and resilience. She has also studied the emergence of civil society interorganizational networks in Croatia during the country’s political transformation. Doerfel has received grants from the National Science Foundation in support of her research.

Doerfel is also a popular teacher of both undergraduates and graduate students. She teaches courses on network science, organizational communication, interorganizational relationships and stakeholder communication, and organizational reputation and representation. She also co-directs Rutgers’ Network Science (NetSci) Lab. She received her doctorate from the University at Buffalo, the State University of New York.

“I am excited to lead the Communication Department and honored by the trust my colleagues have placed in me,” said Doerfel. “I look forward to working with everyone to engage and educate our students and support the work of our faculty as researchers, teachers, and engaged community members.”

More information about the Communication Department at the Rutgers School of Communication and Information is on the website.