Ron Rice

Ronald Rice, professor of communication, is one of 800 scholars nationwide to receive a Fulbright Fellowship to teach and conduct research abroad this year.

This quarter, Rice is in Finland where he will teach courses and offer a series of workshops and seminars at the University of Helsinki about online health communication and the Internet and society. Three other Finnish universities will also participate. He will conduct research on the uses of new communication technologies.

Rice is one of the nation’s leading specialists on the Internet and new media, organizational communication, communication campaigns, and communication networks. He is co-chair of UCSB’s Center for Film, Television, and New Media and president-elect of the International Communication Association.

A prolific scholar, his most recent books are “Social Consequences of Internet Use: Access, Involvement and Interaction” (2002, MIT Press), “The Internet and Health Care: Theory, Research and Practice” (2006, Erlbaum), and “Media Ownership: Research and Regulation” (2006, Hampton Press).

The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs sponsor the Fulbright Scholar Program, America’s flagship international education exchange program. Over its 58 years of existence, the Fulbright Program sponsored exchanges for 250,000 Americans and foreigners.