Christina McDowell
Cornell University
Term: 2023-2026
Christina L. McDowell is a senior lecturer of marketing and management communication at Cornell University, in the SC Johnson College of Business Peter and Stephan Nolan School of Hotel Administration. She has professional experience teaching business/corporate communication and marketing related courses, serving in academic administration roles, delivering professional presentation and workshops in industry, and working in an integrated communication agency setting.
Christy’s research interests start with communicative engagement and emphasizes actively investigating social, civic, economic, and moral problems in the areas of corporate communication, integrated marketing communication (IMC) as well as communication ethics by people and organizations. Christy has published peer reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and a coedited book. Additionally, she has a forthcoming coauthored book on corporate communication and IMC.
Her service to ABC started in 2020. She has actively contributed in regional and conference workshops and presented at the annual conference. Christy holds a Ph.D. in Rhetoric concentrating in Interpersonal and Organizational Communication and Communication Ethics from Duquesne University.
Leslie Ramos Salazar
West Texas A&M University
Term: 2023-2026
Leslie Ramos Salazar is an Associate and Abdullat Professor of Business Communication at the Engler College of Business at West Texas A&M University who teaches business communication and statistics. Her research includes 40+ articles, 9 book chapters, a co-authored textbook (It’s Interpersonal: An Introduction to Relational Communication) and one edited handbook (Handbook of Research on Cyberbullying and Online Harassment in the Workplace).
Since her membership at ABC in 2016, she has served as a committee member of the Business Practices Committee, which focuses on an annual ABC panel related to business practices. At the ABC conferences, she has been an active presenter and/or reviewer of the My Favorite Assignment, How Do You Teach Diversity, Equity and Inclusion?, and Organizational Communication presentation sessions. She has also served as an ad hoc peer reviewer for the International Journal of Business Communication and Business and Professional Communication Quarterly.
Her research includes diversity in the workplace, compassion, mindfulness, teaching technology, and business communication education. In 2018, ABC's C.R. Anderson Research Fund funded her project on leaders' communication competence, mindfulness, and self-compassion. Her research has been published in Business and Professional Communication Quarterly, Journal of Communication Management, Journal of Bank Marketing, Communication Studies, and Communication Teacher. She also served as the Editor-in-Chief for the Sage Business Communication Foundations and the guest editor for Frontiers in Communication and Education Journal.
At ABC's Southwestern U.S. regional association, she served as the Historian, Secretary/Treasurer, Program Planner, and President, as part of their Board of Directors (2019-2022), which provided her with a variety of officer skills (e.g., notetaking, event planning, leadership coordination, etc.) Outside of ABC, she has also served as an At Large Representative of the Legislative Assembly for the National Communication Association (2015-2019) and Chair and Planner for Health Communication of the Western States Communication Association (2014-2015.
William Christopher Brown
Midland College
Term: 2024-2027
William Christopher Brown is Professor of English & Technical Writing and Department Chair of English & Language Arts at Midland College (MC). He earned his Ph.D. in English from Indiana University Bloomington (IUB). Since 2005, he has taught various business, technical, and professional communication/writing classes at IUB, the University of Minnesota Crookston, and MC.
Brown has published on a wide range of topics, including business communication pedagogy (Western ABC Bulletin and two My Favorite Assignment pieces in Business and Professional Communication Quarterly) and professional matters (e.g., contingent labor in higher education). He has presented on business communication pedagogy at several ABC and Modern Language Association (MLA) conventions. At Midland College, Brown helped to organize a Diversity Conference (2020-2021).
A member of ABC since 2012, Brown has chaired the MLA Liaison Committee since 2015. He also serves on the Diversity & Equity Committee and the Proceedings Editorial Review Board. Past service to ABC includes the Technology Committee, BComm Certificate Ad Hoc Committee, and the CCCC Subcommittee (for the Marketing & Membership Committee). Since 2015, Brown has regularly reviewed proposals for the yearly ABC conference.
For the MLA, Brown is on the Delegate Assembly and formerly chaired the Committee on Contingent Labor in the Profession and the Teaching as a Profession Forum Executive Committee for Higher Education as a Profession. For the Texas Community College Teachers Association, he chairs the Resolutions Committee. Additionally, he serves on the Editorial Board of Teaching English in the Two-Year College.
Leslie Seawright
Missouri State University
Term: 2024-2027
Leslie Seawright, PhD, is an associate professor of Technical and Professional Writing in the School of Communication at Missouri State University (MSU). In addition, she serves as the Assistant Director of Composition and oversees Writing for Business and Writing Across the Curriculum general education courses at the university. She teaches graduate courses in pedagogy, technical writing, intercultural communication, and legal writing.
A member of the Association for Business Communication since 2016, Leslie served for two consecutive years as ABC Annual International Conference Co-Chair, planning and executing the conferences in Tampa, Florida and Denver, Colorado. In addition, she produced the June 2023 and the September 2023 ABC Newsletters for the organization. She has also presented at ABC conferences, reviewed proposals, and published in the ABC journal, Business and Professional Communication Quarterly.
Prior to entering academia, Leslie worked professionally for several years as a lobbyist and staff member for several nonprofit organizations. She worked directly with members to provide services and grow membership at the Society for Exploration Geophysicists, an international academic organization. She also held positions at the Home Builders Association, Rogers Lowell Chamber of Commerce, and the Federal Reserve Bank.
Leslie spent four years as an assistant professor at Texas A&M University in Doha, Qatar after obtaining her PhD from the University of Arkansas. Her time in the Middle East was incredibly rewarding, both personally and professionally, and she returned to the States with a deep interest in virtual cultural exchange, study abroad, and transnational education. Her research has appeared in Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, Business Communication Research and Practice, and IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication among others. Her book, Genre of Power: Police Report Writers and Readers in the Justice System, was published by Studies in Writing and Rhetoric of NCTE.
Lisa Gueldenzoph Snyder
North Carolina A&T State University
2024-2027
Lisa Gueldenzoph Snyder is a Professor in the Department of Management at North Carolina A&T State University where she teaches the MBA Organizational Communication course and oversees the MBA Internship experience. She also serves as the Faculty Advisor for Aggie Toastmasters.
ABC has played a critical role is Lisa’s development as an academic and professional Business Communication expert. She became a member in 2000 and began serving the organization through various committees and conference work, Board positions, and ultimately as ABC President. Chronologically, her service includes the Ad Hoc Placement Committee (2001-2007), AACSB Liaison Committee (2006-2008), Annual Convention Proceedings Editor (2005, 2009-2011), Employment Opportunities Committee Chair (2007-2011), ABC Job Board Coordinator (2007-2012), Publications Board (2009-2013), Program Co-Chair for the Southeast Regional Conference (2014), and the Southeastern U.S. Regional Vice President (2012-2015). She joined ABC’s Executive Committee in 2016, serving as Second Vice President (2016), First Vice President (2017), President (2018), and Immediate Past-President (2019). She most recently served on the Nominating Committee (2018-2022).
Lisa’s leadership roles in other organizations include Past-President of the Association for Research in Business Education (ARBE-DPE), Past-Chair of the Policies Commission for Business and Economic Education (PCBEE), and Research Coordinator for the National Association of Business Teacher Education (NABTE). She has previously served in many roles (journal editor, review board member, committee chair) for several state, regional, and national organizations.
Throughout her career to date, Lisa has authored 92 publications, including 39 refereed journal articles, 27 professional publications, 21 proceedings, and 5 editions of Business Communication: Polishing Your Professional Presence (co-authored with Barbara Shwom). Additionally, she has made 162 presentations at regional, national, and international professional development events, workshops, and conferences.
Christopher Toth
Grand Valley State University
2019-2027
Christopher Toth, PhD, is the Department Chair and a Professor in the Department of Writing at Grand Valley State University, in Allendale, Michigan, USA. He teaches courses in business communication, professional writing, multimodal composing, and visual rhetoric.
Since attending his first conference in San Antonio, TX in 2006, Christopher has been an active member of ABC, where he routinely presents his scholarship at the annual international conference. He is a proud member of the Rhetoric SIG. He served on the Technology Board, where he created and maintained the organization’s twitter handle @A4_BC from 2011-2015.
Since 2019, Christopher has been serving as a Director at Large for the organization. He actively contributes to a sub-committee whose work is focused on updating and revising ABC’s operational guidelines and bylaws. For one year, he also served on the Nominating Committee.
Christopher earned his doctorate in Rhetoric & Professional Communication from Iowa State University; his research investigates the intersections of visual rhetoric and professional communication. His scholarship has been published in Business Communication Quarterly, Journal of Business Communication, and in other edited collections. He was a contributor for multiple editions of the Locker & Kienzler best-selling textbook, Business and Administrative Communication, and created teaching guides, instructor and student slideshows, and other ancillary textbook materials. Christopher serves on the Editorial Review Board for Business and Professional Communication Quarterly.
His current scholarly project focuses on creating an open-education resource (OER) for business communication instructors. This edited collection of business communication case studies will have a slant toward social justice issues and will be freely available to be used by anyone.
Christopher has enjoyed his time serving ABC as a Director at Large the past four years, and he is honored to serve another term to help lead and build the future of this organization