Paula Youra, PhD

Dr. Paula Youra joined the Lynchburg College faculty in 1991. Her research offers academic expertise in political and business communication. Dr. Youra holds an AA degree in communication from Riverside City College, a BA degree in communication from California State University at Sacramento, an MA degree in rhetoric from the University of California at Davis and a PhD in speech communication from the Pennsylvania State University.

The author of three books and numerous published articles on political communication, public presentation, civil rights rhetoric, and business communication, Dr. Youra has presented more than 100 research papers to communication conferences around the country. She serves as chairman of the Department of Communication Studies and teaches Persuasion and Rhetorical Criticism

Dr. Youra appears regularly on the ABC news (WSET affiliate) as a political commentator and was a recent guest of C-SPAN's Washington Journal program as an expert on commencement address and to talk about her book, Pomp and Circumstance: Ceremonial Speaking.