Joe Valenzano

Joe Valenzano joined Butler University in January 2023 as professor and Dean of the College of Communication.  Prior to his appointment at Butler, he served as chair of the Department of Communication at the University of Dayton for seven and half years.  During that time, he also served as president of the University of Dayton’s Academic Senate for two years. 

Before becoming Chair at Dayton, Valenzano served as its Basic Course Director for four years.  He moved to Dayton after five years as Basic Course Director at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.  He has served as chair of the Basic Course Division of the National Communication Association, and editor of the Basic Communication Course Annual.

Valenzano’s scholarship focuses on the intersection of religion, politics and media as well as communication pedagogy.  He has authored more than 20 peer-reviewed articles in journals such as Communication Monographs, Communication Education, Communication Quarterly and the Southern Journal of Communication. He has published two books and edited two volumes, while writing three national textbooks for the introductory communication course.

He is the only person to have led basic communication course programs at two different institutions to receive the National Communication Association Basic Course Division’s Program of Excellence.  In fall 2022, he was honored by the same division with the Donald Yoder Distinguished Faculty Award.   

Valenzano earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology and political science from Providence College in Providence, Rhode Island; his master’s degree in communication from the University of Maine-Orono; and his doctorate in public communication from Georgia State University.