Fax: 215-204-4811
E-mail: sgratson@temple.edu

The Program is directed by Dr. Scott Gratson, appointed to the position after serving in the Strategic and Organizational Communication (STOC) Department. Dr. Gratson's focus areas are as eclectic as the Program itself, including aspects of argumentation and debate, sexuality and gender studies, urban communications and neighborhood studies and all things relating to New York City, including his work with the Educational Division of the New-York Historical Society and serving as the Lead Archivist at the Hetrick Martin Institute.

Having had years of experience in hosting major academic events such as national debate and public speaking competitions while also furthering a complex theoretical research framework, Dr. Gratson lends his expertise to the creation of a Program that "combines theory and practice, representing any number of academic and corporate possibilities and applications to the students who join us."

Along with serving as director of the Communications Program, Dr. Gratson also serves on multiple school and university committees as well as being the director of Undergraduate Studies in the School of Communications and Theater. He currently volunteers his time in New York City on a number of service endeavours pertaining to his academic and research interests.

Sharon Eisenhour

Office: 205 Annenberg Hall
Phone: 215-204-5401
E-mail: sharon.eisenhour@temple.edu

Sharon Eisenhour has been in broadcasting in Philadelphia since 1980 when she was host and producer of a nightly classical music program on WHYY-FM. She moved to positions as national broadcast producer for the Philadelphia Orchestra, announcer and host on WHYY-TV, and announcer for WFLN-FM and WRTI-FM. From 1994-97 she was producer and announcer at NewsChannel, a 24-hour cable TV news service. Ms. Eisenhour is active as a voice-over and on-camera performer in a variety of commercials, industrials, phone lines (First Union Bank and Donnelly Directory), web audio, and books-on-tape.

An adjunct professor at Temple University for 10 years, she teaches broadcast performance, writing, and senior seminar classes  to broadcasting and communications majors, and also created a new course, Introduction to Broadcast Technique, begun Spring 2002. She founded SpeakEasy! in 2006 to provide voice and presentation coaching to private and corporate clients. Ms. Eisenhour has given workshops in broadcasting technique at the Connecticut School of Broadcasting branch in Cherry Hill, NJ. She lives in the Philadelphia area with husband Bob Craig, former program director and radio personality at WPEN, and now jazz host on WRTI-FM and HD, and announcer/host on Martini Lounge Radio 1340 AM, and their border collie mix, Bandit, who’s a therapy dog.

Donald L. Heller

Office: 332 Engineering and Architecture
Phone: 215-204-5285
E-mail: dheller@temple.edu

Donald L. Heller is a versatile executive with 30 years business experience. With a strong commitment to community involvement, Don serves as Vice Chairman and a twenty-five plus year Board Member of the Police Athletic League of Philadelphia (PAL).  He is the Chairman of the PAL Scholarship Foundation Committee and has served as a member of the Board of the YMCA, Hero Scholarship Fund and also worked with numerous charitable organizations. Since November of 2001, he has been elected in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania general election to the position of school board director for Springfield Township, Pennsylvania, and has been appointed Board Treasurer, Vice President and also President. He has also served on local government and school advisory boards and as a member and officer of home and school associations.

In January 2000 he joined Temple University as a faculty member in the School of Communication and Theater and was chosen to be Executive in Residence in September 2000.  Since December 2000 he has served as Director of the School’s Communication Major, Interim Chair of the Theater Department, and Assistant Dean in the College of Engineering. He continues to serve as an adjunct faculty member in the School of Communications and Theater conducting Senior Seminar and also an online course dealing with Communications within Organizations.

Sandy Kyrish, Ph.D.

Office: Room 334D Annenberg Hall
Phone: 215-204-1696
E-mail: skyrish@temple.edu

Sandy Kyrish is assistant dean for administration in SCT (Temple's third-largest school). With her team of technical and administrative employees, her responsibilities include the School's budget, facilities, information technology, classroom scheduling, and HR matters. She is a proud alum of SCT, earning her Ph.D. from Temple in 1993. She also holds a masters and a bachelors degree from the College of Communications at the University of Texas at Austin.

Dr. Kyrish's 28-year career combines academic experience with industry and state government experience. She began at the Texas House of Representatives as an audio technician; she moved into the early videoconferencing industry, first on the technical side and later as a market researcher. She began her administrative career at Temple in 1996 as the inaugural director of the On-Line Learning Program. She was then responsible, through a grant to Temple, for directing a competitive grant program by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Over four years, the statewide program awarded $20 million to more than seventy educational projects at colleges and universities around the state. She joined SCT in June, 2000 and has been an adjunct instructor in the School for many years. She looks forward to every Senior Seminar class as a group of twenty unique individuals with many different talents and interests.

Nicholas Daly (Office Intern)

Office: Room 9 C Annenberg Hall
Office Hours: Mon & Fri 9- 12
Phone: 215-204-6434
E-mail: nickjoedaly@temple.edu

Nicholas Daly (Class of '09) is a Film and Media Arts Major and Spanish minor with strong academic interests in Cultural Anthropology and Urban Communications Studies. He is an active member of the Temple University Honors Program and has studies abroad in Buenos Aires, Argentina where he seems to have developed an unquenchable wanderlust. When not working in the office of the Communications Program under Dr. Gratson, he works on his senior thesis, looks at graduate programs online, plots to bicycle back to Argentina and practices playing Beatles' songs.

Dan Suraci (Office Intern)

Office: Room 9 C Annenberg Hall
Office Hours:
Phone: 215-204-6434
E-mail: dan.suraci@temple.edu

Dan Suraci (Class of '10) is a double major in both, Strategic and Organizational Communications with a focus in Public Relations, and Political Science, with a minor in Theatre; his responsibilities range from handling Dr. Gratson’s schedule to assisting in the management of large events. He is a volunteer Honors Program Ambassador
and Communications Chair of the Honors Activity Board. Dan has aspirations of studying abroad in Rome. After graduation, Dan hopes to attend graduate school in New York
City.

Amanda Garcia (Office Intern)

Office: Room 9 C Annenberg Hall
Office Hours: N/A
Phone: 215-204-6434
E-mail: amanda.garcia@temple.edu

Amanda Garcia (Class of '10) is a Communications Major and also working on an Art History minor. Currently studying abroad at Temple University’s Rome campus, Amanda also hopes to have a semester in London before she graduates in 2010. Amanda participates in Temple University’s Honors Program, having penned the Honors Activites Board media as Communications Chair. After graduation, Amanda’s ideal job would be a position with either MTV, Disney, or RCA Records, while furthering her studies in communications at a New York City-based graduate school.