Dr Jennifer Ptacek

Jen is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Dayton. Her research examines intersections of health and organizational communication, including in peacebuilding contexts. As a former Research Assistant for the Purdue Peace Project, she has collaborated with citizens in Liberia, West Africa on locally led peacebuilding initiatives, in which she conducted participatory monitoring and evaluation on projects focused on violence prevention between police officers and motorcycle taxi drivers, during the Ebola outbreak, and during presidential elections. Through this work she has contributed to academic journal articles, edited book chapters, blog posts, and white papers on peacebuilding. Dr. Ptacek’s recent published work has appeared in academic journals including International Journal of Business Communication and Journal of Applied Communication Research and an edited book titled Transforming Conflict and Building Peace: Community Engagement Strategies for Communication Scholarship and Practice (Peter Lang Publishing). Her recent co-authored book is titled Leader-Member Exchange and Organizational Communication: Facilitating a Healthy Work Environment (Palgrave Macmillan, 2021).