The history of the Department of Speech and Dramatic Art began in 1940 when Dr. Leroy Laase was called from Hastings College by Chancellor Boucher, who thought that the various aspects of speech and drama training were badly organized and poorly staffed. He unified the scattered department by administrative fiat and gave Dr. Laase the mandate to create an umbrella department where the various areas of communication were housed under one roof.

Although Dr. Laase faced many problems in his early years as chair of the Department of Speech and Dramatic Art -- the Great Depression, World War II, he continued to fight for whatever resources there were. He was often frustrated, naturally, given the times in which he chaired the Department. By the time Dr. Laase was reaching the end of his tenure at UNL, the umbrella department he chaired consisted of well-developed areas of Speech Communication (including Communication Education), Theatre Arts, Speech Pathology and Audiology (including a Speech Clinic), and Radio and TV. During Dr. Laase's tenure as Chair the graduate program was also developed. In 1945, the Department submitted a request to offer an MA degree and the first Master's was conferred in 1947. In February 1967, the Ph.D. program for the Department was approved and the first doctorate was awarded in 1971.

Dr. Bruce Kendall (faculty member) was an outstanding teacher and a true mentor. Campus leaders commonly came to him for counsel and dialogue about campus matters before they presented their ideas to student governance. Graduate students especially found his instruction inspiring and uplifting. Former students Phil Tompkins, University of Colorado, and Wil Linkugel, University of Kansas, who went on to long and successful careers, both commented upon the powerful influence Professor Kendall had on their lives in their recent retirement presentations. Both acknowledged that they dialogued about ideas with Professor Kendall in their minds long after his untimely death in 1969. The department at Purdue University, where Kendall went when he left Nebraska in 1965, still has a major teaching award named after him. Professor Kendall also had a major influence on Bill Seiler, the present chair of the department, when he was at Purdue University working on his Ph.D. degree. A Bruce Kendall teaching award in the Department of Communication Studies at UNL was established in Spring 2005 and is given annually to an outstanding faculty member and/or a graduate student.

In 1968 Dr. John Petelle was appointed to be Vice-Chair of the Department and in 1970 the new chair when Laase became Director of Graduate Studies. Dr.Lasse retired in 1972 having been in the Department for thirty-two years, a record number of years of service that lasted until 1999 when Dr. Dennis Bormann finished his thirty-third year of service to UNL. Dr. Laase had a well thought out philosophy of communication and gave the department a clear direction. He did not follow fads and thought one should be careful in tinkering with the curriculum. For good or ill, the Department of Speech and Drama as it existed in 1970, was the house that Leroy Laase built. During the Laase years, the Department was fortunate in having two excellent professors with long service who had an enormous influence on students in their respective areas, Dr. Donald Olson and Dr. Maxine Trauernicht.

Dr. Olson was the director of debate for over 20 years and his debate teams had many successes in state and national competitions. Dr. Olson was a gifted teacher and highly admired by his students. He trained many students who later became successful in education, business, and the professions. Dr. Olson was admired for his integrity, honesty, humor and general big heartedness. When he retired, former students from all over the country came to his retirement banquet to shower him with gifts and praise.

Dr. Maxine Trauernicht was a specialist in oral interpretation and speech education. She joined the Department in 1948 and retired after thirty years of service in 1978. She was an extremely diligent person and, as Dr. Laase once said, always did the work of two people.' Like Olson she was devoted to her students for whom she always had time and wise advice. Professor (emeritus) Maxine Trauernicht is a legend in speech education in Nebraska.

In the 1970's during John Petelle's reign, some rapid changes took place in the speech area. In the first place, the umbrella Department was split into four areas. Secondly, more members were added to the speech communication area who took a social scientific approach to the field. Thirdly, UNL, following a trend in other Universities, began to stress research far more than it had in the past. Fourthly, all of the areas of the Department, except theatre, moved out of Temple Building which for years had been the building that housed the umbrella Department.

The period 1971-72 saw a dramatic change in the staff of the Department. During that period, the Department lost three of its four full professors out of a staff of seven. Drs. Laase and Olson retired and Dr. James Thurber died unexpectedly. Hence, Dr. Trauernicht was the only staff member from the 'old order', as it were. In this period, five new members were added to a department of eight people. Since that time, the Department has ranged from eight to ten faculty members. The number of faculty members did not increase in proportion to the number of students during the period of rapid expansion of the University in the late 60's and 70's. In 1973, Dr. John Petelle stepped down as Chairman of the Department and was replaced by Dr. Robert McGlone with two Vice Chairs for the other areas and with Dr. Dennis Bormann as the Vice Chair in the Speech Communication area, who then became the first Chair of the newly independent Department of Speech Communication. The following three chairs were all lost to other universities before their first five-year terms were completed: Dr. Gustav Friedrich became chair of the department in 1977; Dr. James Klump took over in 1982 and was followed by Dr. Jack Kay in 1985.

In 1990, Dr. William Seiler became Chair and holds that position yet, in 2009. It is important to note that many things have happened to the department since Dr. Seiler has taken over the leadership role some good and some not so good.

An unfortunate event took place in the fall of 1991, when the Department was targeted for elimination by an interim upper administration. The Nebraska State Legislature mandated that the University System budget cut 3 percent or 3.8 million dollars from its budget over two years. It was the Senior Vice Chancellor's office under the leadership of Stan Liberty, former Dean of Engineering and Technology, who proposed the elimination of the department. The year before the proposed elimination, the department had only seven full-time faculty members and was in a rather fragile state, after experiencing three resignations including the chair of the department. Two faculty members left the department for personal reasons, and the chair left to administer a department at another institution. However, during the spring semester, the department hired three new faculty members (Drs. Kathryn Carter, Kathleen Krone, and Ronald Lee). Immediately upon learning about its proposed elimination, the department went into a crisis mode. With the support of a large constituency of individuals both inside and outside the university, the department defeated the Vice-Chancellor's proposal. The department now enjoys a renewed sense of mission and is viewed as a strong and viable contributor to the University's mission.

The Department at the time of the budget crisis was known as the Department of Speech Communication. The name of the Department was officially changed to the Department of Communication Studies in July 1993. The new title, of course, more accurately reflects the department's academic mission, moving well beyond a focus on public oral presentations. It also came at a time when the department was repairing its image inside the university. So, the new departmental name symbolized a rebirth.

For many years, Dr. Maxine Trauernicht was the only female member of the Department. By 1991, Communication Studies was the first department in the Arts & Sciences College to achieve gender equity. In the summer of 1994, the department hired Drs. Venita Kelley and Veronica Duncan, the department's first African American faculty members. Since 1994, there have been major changes in the faculty, in 1995/96 we had a major turnover of almost half of the faculty. We lost four women faculty members, two left for other positions, one left for personal reasons, and the other left due to a tenure denial. Since that period, the department has hired three replacements. In the fall of 1997, the department hired assistant professors Dr. Ronald Stephens and Dr. John Caughlin. In the fall of 1998, Dr. Dawn Braithwaite was hired as a tenured associate professor. The department now has ten faculty members: Dr. Dennis Bormann (Professor), Dr. Dawn Braithwaite (Associate Professor), Dr. John Caughlin (Assistant Professor), Dr. Vince Di Salvo (Professor), Dr. Phyllis Japp (Associate Professor), Dr. Venita Kelley (Assistant Professor), Dr. Kathleen Krone (Associate Professor), Dr. Ronald Lee (Associate Professor), Dr. Bill Seiler (Professor & Chair) and Dr. Ronald Stephens (Assistant Professor). In the fall of 1999, Dr. Cecil Blake joined the department as a tenured associate professor. This addition brought the faculty to eleven members. In addition, the Department has two Senior Lectures Karen Durst and Dr. Karen Lee. The Department has been active in the College's initiatives in the areas of family, public discourse, and diversity and human rights. In addition, the Department through the work of Dr. Ronald Lee initiated and now directs the Preparing Future Faculty project, which now involves three (English, Mathematics & Statistics, and Sociology) and next year will include seven other departments (Chemistry, Educational Psychology, History, and Political Science).

Many prominent people have either studied in the Department or participated in the Forensic Program. It is always dangerous to call the roll of outstanding individuals since normally some people are overlooked who should be included. Nevertheless, the following list represents some of the Nebraskans who have who have distinguished themselves in business, government, and/or the professions:

Ted Sorenson - Prominent N. Y. attorney and speechwriter for President Kennedy.
Wilmer Linkugel - Professor Emeritus, The University of Kansas.
Andrew Wolvin - Professor, University of Maryland.
Phil Tompkins - Professor Emeritus, University of Colorado.
Allen Overcash - Lincoln, NE Attorney.
Kim Robak - Lincoln, NE Attorney; Former Lt. Governor of Nebraska; Former Vice President of External Affairs at UNL.
Sara Boatman - Vice-President of Student Affairs, Nebraska Wesleyan University, Lincoln, NE.
Richard Whitman - Dean, James Madison University, VA. (1999 UNL College of Arts and Sciences Alumni Achievement Award winner).
Virginia Richmond - Professor, West Virginia University.
MaryAnn Danielson - Chair, Creighton University, Omaha, NE.
Olga Davis - Assistant Professor, Arizona State University; First African American Ph.D.
Nancy Mitchell - Associate Professor and Chair of Advertising, UNL.
Glen Smith - Past Chair, University of Central Arkansas.
Maurine Eckloff - Former Chair, University of Nebraska-Kearney.
George Lawson - Former Chair, University of Nebraska-Kearney.
Thomas Hollihan - Professor, Annenberg School of Communication, University of Southern California.
Robert Powell - Chair, California State University at Frenso.
Linda Mann - Former Dean, Doane College, Crete, NE.
Mary Gill - Dean, Buena Vista College, IA.
Frank Hale, Jr. - Vice Provost and Professor Emeritus, Distinguished Alumni and Honorary Degree, Doctor of Humane Letters UNL, 1996.
Patricia Riley - Professor, Annenberg School of Communication, University of Southern California.
Kris (Saafeld) Malkoski - President and CEO of Pharmaceutical Corp of America.
Melissa Beall - Professor University of Northern Iowa, Past President of Central States Communication Association.