Faculty & Staff Spotlight Rod

Meet Rod Hart

What do you currently do at UT?
-"I hold the Shivers Centennial Chair in Communication and am also Professor of Government."

Where are you from?
-"I was born and raised in Fall River, Massachusetts, an old mill town that used to be the textile capital of the U.S."

How and when did you decide to work in communication?
-"I was a double major in English and Communication and undecided about which track to follow until the second semester of my senior year at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst."

What’s one of the most memorable things that happened during your Undergraduate Years?
-"I met a girl on a blind date.  I liked her. 57 years later, I still like her."

What’s one of the most memorable things that happened during your Graduate Years?
-"The Vietnam War changed the politics of everything.  That was true for the students and faculty at Penn State (where I did my doctoral work) and, I guess, it changed my politics as well."

What are you proudest of?
-"(1) my two kids and five grandkids, (2) my eleven years as dean of Moody, and (3) the thirty-five students whose doctoral work I’ve supervised"

What is a fun fact about you that most people here don’t know?
-"I’ve written eighteen books and have never learned to type in a conventional way."

Where is your favorite place in Austin? (Can be restaurants, activities, parks, etc.)
-"The Moody Center when basketball is being played."

What movie genre is your favorite?
-"Crime/mystery"

If you could go back in time, what’s one piece of advice you would give to yourself?
-"I’d tell myself to lighten-up.  Then I’d tell myself that’s stupid advice."

What’s one piece of advice you would give current students?
-"Put the Moody College of Communication in your will."

Where would you love to travel to next?
-"Portugal, because my home-town has one of the largest Portuguese-American communities in the U.S."