Dr. Bryant Keith Alexander

The Association for Communication Administration (ACA) has selected Dr. Bryant Keith Alexander, Dean of the College of Communication and Fine Arts and Interim Dean of the School of Television and Film at Loyola Marymount University, as the 2021 Shawn Long Administrator of the Year.

Dr. Alexander has an impressive record of leadership at both the department and college levels at both public and private institutions. He is currently serving a double dean role where his style of “leadership as/in collaboration and consensus building” appears to serve his colleagues well. Colleagues praise his collaborative and supportive style of helping everyone around him reach their full potential. Dr. Alexander sees “administration, teaching, and scholarship as informing practices of academic professionalism.” These qualities align beautifully with the style of leadership Dr. Long embodied and that the ACA seeks to honor with this award.

As part of his embodiment of the teacher-scholar model, Dr. Alexander is an active interdisciplinary researcher. He has over 150 scholarly publications, including six books, addressing race, culture, and gender performance. He has continued to advance research in the field while leading colleagues and students through the unique circumstances of the past year.

When the pandemic necessitated a shift to remote instruction, Dr. Alexander maintained his high level of responsiveness to the needs of his community. Colleagues praised the way he made short, yet “powerful and heartfelt,” video messages to address topics ranging from ongoing remote learning concerns to social unrest after the murder of George Floyd. He tailored messages to different groups, with each one offering vital information along with reassurance, comfort, and inspiration. He worked to support new technologies that enabled ongoing student engagement in artistic performances and juried exhibitions. He also defined the college’s commitments to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility publicly, and implemented practices that advanced those commitments.

We invite you to join us in honoring Dr. Alexander with this award at the Association for Communication Administration breakfast and business meeting in Seattle. We will meet at 7 a.m. on 11/19 in the Sheraton Virginia Room on the fourth floor of the Union Street Tower.