Chapman University will launch a School of Communication on June 1 to be headed by Lisa Sparks, who was appointed its dean by Chapman President Jim Doti following a unanimous faculty vote.
Sparks has been a Chapman professor since 2006 and previously served as communication studies department chair and director of the master of science graduate program in health and strategic communication. She’s married to Chancellor Daniele Struppa, who succeeds Doti as president in August.
School of Communication classes will start in the fall, and the school will offer a bachelor of arts in communication studies, a bachelor of arts in strategic and corporate communication, and a master of science in health and strategic communication.
Sparks earned bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees at the University of Oklahoma. She has written approximately 150 research articles and book chapters, and written or edited 10 books on communication, health and aging, with an emphasis on doctor-patient interaction and family decision-making for people with cancer.
—Deirdre Newman
