Buffalo, NY - Kristen Campbell Eichhorn ’99 wanted to go into broadcasting when she arrived at Canisius. Then she took an interpersonal communication class with Melissa Wanzer, EdD.
“It was an experience that changed the course of my life,” Eichhorn recalls. “Professor Wanzer was so passionate and effective in teaching, it was contagious.”
Today, Eichhorn is a professor of communication studies at SUNY Oswego, where she teaches courses in interpersonal communication and research methods. Eichhorn just completed her year as an American Council on Education fellow. The 51-year-old ACE Fellows program is designed to strengthen institutions and leadership in higher education by preparing future leaders for senior positions in college and university administrations. Eichhorn spent her year at Cornell University participating on issues including strategic planning, public engagement and faculty development and diversity.
Later this month, she will assume the additional role of dean of graduate studies at SUNY Oswego.
As her student adviser at Canisius, Wanzer once suggested that Eichhorn needed to work on her writing in order to move ahead in graduate studies. Years later, the two would share authorship of a book on interpersonal communication. Eichhorn has also written extensively on the topic for leading research journals on human communication.
She holds a master’s degree from West Virginia University and earned her PhD from the University of Miami, Florida.
