Scholarships

Joseph B. Laine Outstanding Senior in Communication Studies Award

Each spring, one graduating senior is selected for this award.

Joseph B. Laine, who passed away in 2013 at the age of 88, earned his Ph.D. at Northwestern University.  He joined the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh’s Communication Department in 1962, serving as professor and chair for 26 years after previously serving as an instructor at the University of South Dakota and instructor and debate coach at Marquette University.  He retired from UW Oshkosh in 1989.

Laine was a long-serving and dedicated faculty member in the UW Oshkosh Department of Communication.  As the number and variety of communication degrees grew under his tenure as “Speech Department” chair in the 1960s and 1970s, so did the services provided through special hearing clinics within the department — clinics that annually served hundreds of Wisconsin residents, including referrals from physicians and UW-Madison and UW-Milwaukee, according to archival records.  He also served as a president of the Wisconsin Speech Communication Association.

In his honor, the “Joseph B. Laine Outstanding Senior in Communication Studies Award” recognizes “Communication Studies majors with senior standing who have accrued an overall minimum GPA of 3.0” and who have achieved “academic excellence, involvement in extracurricular activities (with primary emphasis on communication-related activities) and demonstrated leadership.”

Laine himself was an active community volunteer, donating his time and talents to several charitable organizations in the Oshkosh area.