Image: Dr. Thomas Lessl has been granted the status of Professor Emeritus by President Jere Morehead and the University of Georgia. A beloved teacher and exacting scholar, Dr. Lessl taught at the university since 1985. He retired in August of this year. Dr. Lessl is an expert in the rhetoric of early modern science and religion. His book Rhetorical Darwinism: Religion, Evolution, and the Scientific Identity was the Religious Communication Association’s book of the year in 2012, and that organization named him the scholar of the year in 2014. Throughout his career, Dr. Lessl has been devoted to his students. His concern for public speaking pedagogy deeply influenced the department’s public speaking curriculum and textbook. His legacy also includes the many undergraduate and graduate students whom he helped become clearer, more elegant writers and thinkers. Dr. Lessl was the Chef de Station of UGA à Paris since 2011, and his colleagues always had a standing invitation to join him at his apartment in Paris. Dr. Lessl’s scholarship will continue to influence the field of Communication Studies. Here in the department, we will especially miss his piano playing, his storytelling, his emceeing at public speaking contests, and his good sense in matters of department policy. We hope he visits often. Once a COMM Dawg, always a COMM Dawg!
