Lesley A. Withers, associate professor of communication, received her Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees from the University of Maine and her Ph.D. in communication science from the University of Connecticut.  Her area of specialization is in nonverbal/emotional interpersonal communication.  She primarily teaches courses in interpersonal, nonverbal, and gender communication, as well as courses in quantitative research methods at the undergraduate and graduate levels. 

Her classes often include a service-learning component; in the past, her gender communication classes have raised thousands of dollars for domestic violence shelters in Michigan.  Recently, her interpersonal communication class completed relationship skills training manuals for the Saginaw Correctional Facility and the Partners’ Empowering All Kids (PEAK) program.

Dr. Withers’ research interests are in the “dark side” of interpersonal communication:  embarrassment, communication apprehension, deception, and addiction.  Her research has been published in the Journal of Applied Communication Research, the Western Journal of Communication, and Personality and Individual Differences and presented at the regional, national, and international levels. 

In the fall of 2004, Dr. Withers analyzed the nonverbal communication styles of presidential and vice-presidential candidates for interviews with Mt. Pleasant’s Morning Sun, the tri-cities’ The Saginaw News, and WEYI’s NewsCenter 25 Today television news program.  Recently, Dr. Withers was interviewed about the nonverbal communication of emotion between mothers and their young children by First for Women magazine and on how to use successful nonverbal communication in to communicate effectively with radiology patients by RT Image magazine.

In addition to her teaching and research, Dr. Withers also serves as the graduate coordinator for the Communication and Dramatic Arts department and as the faculty advisor to Lambda Pi Eta (the communication honor society). 

Vernon, L. L., & Withers, L. A. (2006, November). An investigation of the factor structure of two measures of embarrassment. Paper accepted for presentation at the annual meeting of the National Communication Association, San Antonio, TX.

Withers, L. A., & Vernon, L. L. (2006). To err is human: Embarrassment, attachment, and communication apprehension. Personality and Individual Differences, 40, 99-110.

VanLear, C. A., Sheehan, M. A., Withers, L. A., & Walker, R. A. (2005). AA online: The enactment of computer mediated social support. Western Journal of Communication, 69 (1), 5-26.

Green, E., & Withers, L. A. (2005, November). Examining the heart of the family: Developing a measure of family locus of control (F-LOC). Paper presented at the annual meeting of the National Communication Association, Boston, MA.

Withers, L. A., Sheehan, M. A., & Buck, R. (2004, November). Still seeing red: Embarrassment, attachment, and competence in a public speaking context. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the National Communication Association, Chicago, IL.

Sherblom, J. C., Keranen, L., & Withers, L. A. (2002). Tradition, tension, and transformation: A structuration analysis of a game warden service in transition. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 30 (2), 143-162.