J. Michael Sproule

J. Michael (Mike) Sproule is professor emeritus of communication studies, San Jose State University. After receiving his Ph.D. at Ohio State University, he led start-up programs at the University of Texas, Permian Basin, and Indiana University Southeast. He later served as Director of the School of Media and Communication at Bowling Green State University and Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Saint Louis University. Dr. Sproule has held appointments as visiting lecturer in the Graduate School of Journalism, University of California at Berkeley and visiting scholar, Drew University. Author of seven books and more than 50 articles or chapters, he received a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship (1983-1984) for work on propaganda and is a two-time recipient (1988, 2013) of the Golden Anniversary Monograph award of the National Communication Association for articles treating propaganda and rhetoric. Sproule served as president of NCA in 2007. Married to Betty A. Sproule since 1973, he resides in Pacific Grove, California. The Sproule family includes sons John and Kevin and daughter-in-law Ann Sproule who with Kevin are parents of Luke and Nathan. “Sproule” rhymes with “soul,” not “owl,” “school”, or “unruly.”