DAVID KENNETH BERLO

David Kenneth Berlo, the author of The Process of Communication, of St.

Petersburg Florida was born on March 1929. He was a strong leader, excellent
educator, and advocate for the field of communication study until he died when he
was 66 years old in his home after a brief illness in 1996.
He lived his life devoted to education. He graduated with a degree in
psychology from the University of Illinois, where he also received his doctorate
degree in the study of communication in 1955 when he was 29 years old. He
was a student of Wilbur Schramm, whose theories of communication are also
well-known. Mr. Schramm was of course, the mind behind the Schramms Model
of Communication. He was also part of the doctoral committee (A doctoral
committee conducts the qualifying examination, supervises the preparation of the
dissertation/thesis, passes the dissertation, and administers the final defense.)
along with Dean Gordon Sabine who offered Berlo the position as the assistant
professor and the chair of the newly created Department of General
Communication Arts, at his Michigan State University.
Did you know that because of this position at a young age, he
deliberately gained weight up to 270 pounds? It was discovered that because
hes many years younger than his colleagues and students, he thought that he
needed to communicate and look more matured in order for him to be taken
seriously in his position. As a result, he deliberately gained weight up to 270
pounds of body mass, dressed in dark, fancy suits, and began to act the part
of the chairperson of a more well-established department. It must have worked,
because he was able to successfully establish, at Michigan State, one of United
States first undergraduate majors in communication.

Date of Birth: March 1929

Date of Death: Feb 23, 1996 (66 years old)
o He died in his home after a brief illness.
Education:
o He graduated with a degree in psychology from the University of
Illinois, where he also received a doctorate in communications in
1995. (29 years old)
o Berlo was a student of Wilbur Schramm, who sat on the doctoral
committee.
o Schramm, whose theories of communication are well known, was
responsible for the creation of the first communication program at the
graduate level which was an entity separate from speech and mass
communications.
o Dean Gordon Sabine, also sat on the committee, and the following
day offered Berlo an assistant professorship position and the
chair of the newly created Department of General
Communication Arts, at his Michigan State University (MSU)
Trivia:

It was discovered that, Berlo, being many years younger than his
colleagues and some of his students, perceived himself to be in
need of communicating an air of permanence and maturity, so
that his position, and that of the newly formed department, would be
taken seriously. To this end, he deliberately gained weight up to
270 pounds of body mass, dressed in dark, fancy suits, and began to
act the part of the chairperson of a more well-established department
(Rogers, 2001). It must have worked, because he was able to
successfully establish, at Michigan State, one of our countrys first
undergraduate majors in communication.