EMU Today

YPSILANTI – David A. Victor, a professor of management and international business at Eastern Michigan University, has won the Association for Business Communication’s Award of Merit.

“The purpose of the Award of Merit is to acknowledge outstanding achievement in the discipline of business communication through a singular accomplishment or a series of accomplishments,” said ABC Immediate Past President Marcel Robles.

“Dr. Victor distinguished himself for this recognition through his excellence in teaching, pedagogy, and methodology; research and publications; and professionalism,” said Robles, who is Assistant Dean & Chair of Faculty in the School of Business at Eastern Kentucky University.

“Dr. Victor has been a leader in the Association for Business Communication for nearly three decades. He served as a past president and member of the ABC Board of Directors and used those experiences to help found and lead the Global Advancement for Business Communication (GABC) [initiatives]. GABC has achieved tremendous success due to Dr. Victor’s vision and leadership.”

Since its founding in 1935, ABC has grown into the premier international business communication organization. It has five regional divisions in the U.S. and four international divisions. ABC is the recognized world leader in business communication.

Creating global opportunities for students

Kenneth Lord, Dean of the EMU College of Business, said, “We in the College of Business are immensely proud of Dr. Victor and his outstanding contributions and visionary leadership in the business-communication discipline over decades.  Along with his dominant role in shaping the trajectory of business communication as an academic discipline, he has created opportunities in global business for countless Eastern students and built relationships with leading firms and executives across the globe.  This well-deserved award is a fitting recognition of a lifetime of contributions.”

Victor’s published work has focused cross-cultural business communication, international business ethics and international differences in organizational structure. Students routinely speak of his passion for international business and his deep knowledge of the field.

He has consulted and run programs for more than two hundred companies and organizations, including Fortune 500 companies, governments, and NGOs. In addition, Victor serves as Editor-in-Chief of the annual Global Advances in Business Communication Journal, which is housed at Eastern.

The GABC Journal publishes original research on interdisciplinary business practices that shape and are shaped by the changing nature and level of global business communication.

Helping understand cross-cultural communication

Victor is a prolific writer, and notes that his books “try to put into simple language the complex issues involved in cross-cultural communication.”

His most recent book, The Seven Keys to Communicating in Mexico: An Intercultural Approach,  was published earlier this year by Georgetown University Press (GUP) and co-authored with Olivia Hernández-Pozas (Associate Professor of International Business a  at Tecnnológico de Monterrey, Mexico) and Orlando Kelm (Associate Professor and Director of the UT Portuguese Language Flagship University of Texas-Austin). Victor and Kelm have co-authored two previous books with GUP on Brazil (2016) and (with Haru Yamada) on Japan  

Educating the campus on many faiths

A final element of Victor’s extensive communications efforts is his ongoing announcement of religious observances that may affect campus life.

These extensive email messages include holidays from a wide range of religions representing the diversity of faith traditions practiced by EMU faculty, staff and students. Posts have included descriptions of widely known holidays such as Christmas, Passover, and Ramadan as well as those that may be less understood.

All of these are posted on his blog  The David Victor Vector. 

Why does Victor maintain such an extensive blog and send out such detailed emails to the EMU community and beyond? It’s all about understanding others.

He does it “To help spread appreciation for embracing the wide range of religious traditions and values that enhance the human experience.”

About Eastern Michigan University

Founded in 1849, Eastern is the second oldest public university in Michigan. It currently serves more than 16,000 students pursuing undergraduate, graduate, specialist, doctoral and certificate degrees in the arts, sciences and professions. In all, more than 300 majors, minors and concentrations are delivered through the University's Colleges of Arts and Sciences; Business; Education; Engineering and Technology; Health and Human Services; and, its graduate school. EMU is regularly recognized by national publications for its excellence, diversity, and commitment to applied education. For more information about Eastern Michigan University, visit the University's website.