Thomas W. Benson is Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Rhetoric and Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences at the Pennsylvania State University.
Benson's research activities and interests are rhetorical criticism and theory, with special interests in rhetoric of the presidency, rhetoric of film, visual rhetoric, rhetoric of American politics and culture. He is editor of the book series in Rhetoric and Communication of the University of South Carolina Press, and former editor of Communication Quarterly, The Quarterly Journal of Speech, and founding editor of The Review of Communication and CRTNET (Communication Research and Theory Network), a listserv for students and scholars of human communication.
He is founder and director of the Penn State study abroad program in Communication Arts & Sciences in Rome, Italy, which offers courses in the rhetoric of travel and tourism, the rhetoric of Italian cinema, and the rhetoric of Rome, street and studio. Benson is recipient of numerous awards, including the National Communication Association's (NCA)Distinguished Scholar, Presidential Citation, and Mentor Awards; the Speech Communication Association's Robert A. Kibler Memorial Award; the Eastern Communication Association's Meritorious Service Award.