The National Communication Association has granted a Distinguished Scholar award to Dr. Walid Afifi, a professor of Communication and Assistant Dean of Social Sciences. The award, which was conferred to Dr. Afifi at the NCA's annual convention in November, is the highest honor granted by the organization each year.
"Dr. Walid Afifi has a stellar record in the areas of research, teaching, and service," the award states. "His outstanding and prolific research agenda focuses on the experience of uncertainty and its impact on information seeking, decision-making, and well-being. This resulted in the publication of the Theory of Motivated Information Management, and is currently being extended to the context of communities experiencing chronic uncertainty through the development of the Chronic Uncertainty Framework. He is one of the leading scholars in this area of research worldwide. He teaches classes related to community engagement, interpersonal communication, nonverbal communication, relational communication, and uncertainty."
The award also recognized Dr. Afifi's outstanding teaching record, noting that he is also the recipient of the University of California Santa Barbara’s Faculty Senate Teaching Award. "His impressive service record includes serving as the current Associate Dean, and Director of Community Engaged Initiatives, in the Division of Social Sciences at the University of California Santa Barbara, and serving as the Past President of NCA (National Communication Association), where he founded the first SWANA (South West Asia and North Africa) Caucus to support and mentor junior faculty and graduate students from minority backgrounds. In appreciation of his impressive scholarly and service record, he has been selected as an ICA (International Communication Association) Fellow in 2021."
Congratulations to Dr. Afifi for all the hard work that led to this impressive recognition.