Education

B.A., Corporate Communication, College of Charleston (SC)
M.A., Communication (Public Relations), Purdue University
Ph.D. Communication (Public Relations), Purdue University

Awards

President’s Faculty Research Award: Senior Scholar Category Arts and Humanities.  The University of Alabama (April 2023).

PRIDE Contribution to Public Relations Education Award for Outstanding Innovation, Development, and Educational Achievement in Public Relations.  National Communication Association (NCA) Public Relations Division (2013).

Inez Kaiser Student of Color Award. Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) Public Relations Division (2006).

Research

Damion Waymer is a seasoned communication researcher who has conducted, for nearly two decades, high quality, internationally respected research in the contexts of diversity, equity and inclusion, organizational rhetoric, public relations, crisis communication, corporate social responsibility, corporate social advocacy, branding and strategic communication

Teaching

“I expect to pass through life but once. If therefore, there be any kindness I can show, or good thing I can do to any fellow being, let me do it now, and not defer or neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again.”

Waymer has adopted this philosophy of life to his approach to teaching. Although he does not expect students to share his fervor for outreach, he does expect them to develop an increased ability to focus on problems that are meaningful to their lives and our world.

Recent Publications

Waymer, D., & Hill, T.E., (2024) Arts promotion and Black urban displacement: Exploring the paradox of the positive in government public relations and urban renewal discourse. Public Relations Review, 50(2).

Waymer, D., Brown, K. A., & Jackson, J. (2023). Researcher responsibility to diversity and inclusion in public relations and social scientific research: A call for more inclusive research and researcher participation. Journal of Public Relations Research, 35.

Waymer, D., & Hill, T. E. (2023). A conceptual update to image restoration theory (IRT) via the vice-presidential campaign of Kamala Harris. Public Relations Review, 49(2), 1-10.

Waymer, D., & Heath, R. L. (2023). Explicating the public memory dialectic in public relations: The case of Donald Trump, The Oath Keepers, and January 6, 2021. Public Relations Review, 49(1), 1-10.

Waymer, D.  (Ed.). (2012). Culture, social class, and race in public relations: Perspectives and applications. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.

Heath, R. L., Toth, E. L., & Waymer, D. (Eds.). (2009). Rhetorical and critical approaches to public relations II.  New York: Routledge.