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Lawrence A Wenner
Lawrence A. Wenner (Ph.D., University of Iowa, 1977) is the Von der Ahe Professor of Communication and Ethics in the College of Communication and Fine Arts at the School of Film and Television, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, where he directs the Forum on Media Ethics and Social Responsibility and teaches media ethics in Philosophy and narrative ethics. His earlier notable appointments include serving as the William Evans Fellow at the University of Otago, the Diederich Distinguished Visiting Scholar at Marquette University, Louise Davies Professor of Contemporary Values in America at the University of San Francisco, and as a University Fellow at the University of Iowa.
He has served as Professor of Communication and Media Studies, Executive Director of the Graduate Programme in Sports and Fitness Management, and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of San Francisco.
Dr. Wenner’s research includes seven books and nearly 100 journal articles and book chapters. He has lectured in more than a dozen countries on research focusing on critical assessments of media content, ethical dimensions of race and gender portrayals in advertising, audience experiences with television in the family context, and the values and consumption of mediated sports. Dr. Wenner’s books include Media, Sports and Society, MediaSport, and Critical Approaches to Television (2nd edition with Leah Vande Berg and Bruce Gronbeck). His recent book, Sport, Beer, and Gender: Promotional Culture and Contemporary Social Life (with Steven Jackson), explores how mixing beer and masculinity are integral to contemporary commodified sport. His upcoming book, Fallen Sports Heroes, Media, and Celebrity Culture, examines the dynamic and moral meaning of sporting celebrityhood gone bad. Dr. Wenner is a former editor of the Journal of Sport and Social Issues, has served as editor for a special issue of the Journal of Sport Management and a double issue of American Behavioral Scientist on sport communication, serves currently on six journal editorial boards and has served on numerous other journal editorial boards in media studies, sport studies, and sociology.
In 2009, an editorial preface to his work in University of Nebraska Press’ Journal of Sports Media characterized Dr. Wenner as such a “heavy hitter in the world of sport research” that he “may be the most prolific and accomplished scholar in the field.” Reports on his research and media interviews with Dr. Wenner have appeared with CBS, ABC, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News Network, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, New Zealand Television One, KGO-TV, KTVU, KQED, KIWI-FM, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Financial Times, Newsday, Boston Herald, Hartford Gazette, San Jose Mercury News, San Diego Union-Democrat, Denver Post, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Detroit News, San Antonio Express-News, Otago Daily Times, New Zealand Herald, Sports Illustrated, Daily Variety, Hollywood Reporter, Le Journal du Dimanche, Working Woman, George, Bloomberg Business Week and other outlets. In leisure, he plays tennis, sails, bikes, and boards on surf, snow, and skate.