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Ulla Connor named Chancellor’s Professor

 Ulla at Honor's Convocation 

(INDIANAPOLIS)—Ulla Connor, Ph.D., Professor of English and Director of the Indiana Center for Intercultural Communication (ICIC) in the School of Liberal Arts, has been named a Chancellor’s Professor of Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), an honor which recognizes a record of extensive accomplishment by senior faculty at IUPUI.

The Chancellor’s Professorship recognizes senior faculty members who display a record of extensive accomplishment and leadership in teaching, research and campus service. IUPUI Chancellor Charles Bantz noted that Connor, "has contributed in major ways not only to her academic field but also to the reputation of IUPUI as a research community of exceptional quality and integrity."  The formal award presentation was made at the Chancellor’s Honors Convocation April 29 at the University Place Hotel Auditorium in Indianapolis.

Connor is currently the Barbara E. and Karl R. Zimmer Chair in Intercultural Communication and Professor of English at IUPUI and is also the founding director of ICIC, a language, intercultural research and training center.  Under Connor’s direction, ICIC has received more than $2.3 million in grants and training contracts since 1998, and recently was awarded a prestigious Signature Center Initiative Grant from the university. 

Connor received her B.A. and M.A. from the University of Helsinki, an M.A. from the University of Florida, an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin. She has authored and co-authored several books and over 100 articles and book chapters. In her research on writing and intercultural communication, Connor combines theories and methods from both linguistics and rhetoric.  Results of her intercultural rhetoric research have been applied in the teaching of ESL and EFL students, intercultural business communication, and, most recently, the language of healthcare among U.S. immigrant populations. ICIC has taught English for Specific Purposes to more than 500 non-native English speaking workers in more than 15 Indiana businesses and healthcare practices, and provided intercultural training to more than 200 businesses and non-profits.