Emporia State professor of communication and Interim Associate Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences Heidi Hamilton is up for the position of Dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences. 

Hamilton earned her Bachelor of Arts in Government/International Affairs from Augustana College, where she also minored in Modern Foreign Languages with an emphasis in German and Spanish (1991). Her Master of Arts in Communication Studies/Rhetorical Studies is from the University of North Carolina (1993), and her Doctor of Philosophy in Communication Studies/Rhetorical Studies is from the University of Iowa (1999).

Hamilton’s first listed position on her resume overlapped with her doctoral studies; she was an instructor for the Department of Speech Communication at Augustana College. After receiving her PhD, she became an assistant professor for the same department. Throughout her time teaching at Augustana, she served as the Director of Debate. 

After departing from Augustana in 2003, Hamilton served the University of Missouri’s Department of Communication as a visiting assistant professor for one year.

Hamilton assumed her role as an assistant professor in ESU’s former Department of Communication and Theatre in 2004. In 2009, she was promoted to an associate professor, then in 2017 to her current title of professor.

From 2013 to 2019, Hamilton was the director of the ethnic and gender studies program. As director, she spearheaded the Women’s History Month reception and awards, recruiting and advising for the program minors and chaired the Ethnic and Gender Studies Steering Committee for which she wrote bylaws.

Hamilton became the chair of the Department of Communication and Theatre in 2019, a position she held until the department’s erasure in ESU’s restructuring. As chair, she supervised the department’s faculty and staff, administered performance evaluations for retention and tenure and supervised the hiring of new faculty. She led the development of multiple concentrations for the communications curriculum and developed the 2+2 partnership with Flint Hills Technical College’s Multimedia Design program. Hamilton was also responsible for scheduling courses with faculty, collaborating with ESU advisors and managing the department’s budget.

After ESU’s restructuring, Hamilton moved into her current position as Interim Associate Dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences. In her capacity as interim associate dean, she has worked with ESU Admissions and ESU Marketing + Communications to bolster recruitment efforts, collaborated to develop a new performance evaluation system and worked with another professor to develop the new minor in integrated media studies. 

Hamilton has completed many publications, presentations and research activities. She was awarded the Assessment Champion Award in 2023, the Ruth Schillinger Award in 2015 and the Excellence in Service Award from the former College of Liberal Arts and Sciences in 2013.

Some of her past and present professional involvements include the American Forensic Association for which she served as vice president then president from 2016 to 2020 and the National Communication Association. She has served on multiple committees for both of these organizations in the past. At ESU, she has served on several search committees, campus committees and select college service.