Michael Hazen

Bio

Michael Hazen was born and raised in Tacoma, Washington and completed his undergraduate work at Seattle Pacific University. After completion of his B.A. degree, he journeyed to North Carolina to become part of the first master’s class in the communication program at Wake Forest University. Upon graduation from Wake Forest, he entered and subsequently graduated from the Ph.D. program at the University of Kansas. In the fall of 1974, he joined the faculty of the Speech Communication program at Wake Forest University. In his early years at Wake Forest University, he served as the Director of the National Debate Tournament from 1975 to 1984, where the collegiate national debate champion was determined. He became involved in international programs dealing with debate & discussion when he was appointed by the National Communication Association’s Committee on International Discussion and Debate to serve as the coach for the American debate team touring Japan in 1980, to serve as the coach of the American debate’s tour of the Soviet Union in 1982, and as the American escort for the Soviet Debate team touring the United States in 1985. As a result of a subsequent developing interest in communicative practices in different cultures, he was granted a research leave in Japan in the spring of 1988 and was the director of the first Wake Forest student study abroad program in Japan in the Fall of 1991. He also served as the founding Chair of the new Department of Communication from 1992 until 2001. Also, from 1995 to 2001, he served as the Project Coordinator for granted awarded to the department for a “Longitudinal Analysis of Computerization at Wake Forest University.” In recent years, he has pursued his research and teaching interests comparing communication in Japan, China, Russia and the United States. He served as president of the Eurasian Communication Association of North America and has worked with the Russian Communication Association, the Association for Chinese Communication Studies, and the Japan-US Communication Association. At Wake Forest University, in addition to being department chair, he has served as President of the University Senate, a member of the Provost Search Committee, member of the Graduate Council, and numerous committees.