History
The Department of Speech Communication at the University of Illinois has a long and proud history. We are one of the oldest doctoral programs in communication in the country. We started out as the Department of Speech in 1947 with 11 professors and 14 instructors. Today we have grown to 28 professors, 5 emerti professors, and 10 instructors. We enroll approximately 75 graduate students and 600 undergraduate majors.
To celebrate our 50th anniversary, former Department Head David L. Swanson traced our rich history (PDF). We continue to celebrate our past and current accomplishments, ever mindful that our traditions provide the foundations on which we build our future.