Robert Reid

After an all expense paid year in Southeast Asia I married Barbara Stephens, and finished college and seminary (MDiv). I was a pastor of two congregations from 1979-1989. I received MA and PhD in Communication from UWashington. I currently direct a Master of Arts in Communication in Organizational Leadership at the University of Dubuque, Iowa. My most recent books are Slow of Speech and Unclear Lips (January 2010) and Connecting with Your Audience: Making Public Speaking Matter (August 2010)--a public speaking textbook I co-authored with faculty in my department.

Barbara (Stephens) Reid was ordained to the ministry in December 2008 while she also serves as the Assistant department head for the Nursing Department at the University of Dubuque.

Iowa has been good to us professionally, but we both look forward to the time when we will return to the West Coast--preferably the Northwest.

1. Getting suspending for a fistfight picked with me over a girl I hadn't seen for three months (but I was still "cruzin for a bruzin." He bled all over my brand new Key Club coat from a lucky nose punch with my brand new Hueneme High ring. So I figured if I was getting suspended over a girl, maybe I actually ought to ask Barbara Stephens out on a date. The rest is a history we are still sharing together.
2. Kissing Nancy Earl in the Senior class play BELL BOOK AND CANDLE while Barbara ushered and kept an eye on all that smooching on stage.
3. Taking a vocation test in an English class that said my second preferred occupation should be a minister when I had never attended church. I laughed at the silly test. What did they know? Made me wonder though why that would be an interesting occupation. I went to seminary after college, served as a pastor for a decade, and now direct a graduate communication program and write and publish books about religious communication in the US. Good test.