18 Facts About Wilbur Schramm

Wilbur Lang Schramm was a scholar and "authority on mass communications".

Wilbur Schramm founded the Iowa Writers' Workshop in 1935 and served as its first director until 1941.

Wilbur Schramm is considered the founder of the field of Communication Studies.

Wilbur Schramm was the first individual to identify himself as a communication scholar; he created the first academic degree-granting programs with communication in their name; and he trained the first generation of communication scholars.

At Illinois, Wilbur Schramm set in motion the patterns of scholarly work in communication study that continue to this day.

Wilbur Schramm "suffered from a stammer which at times severely hampered his speech, and which he never fully conquered".

Wilbur Schramm developed a severe stutter at age five due to an improperly performed tonsillectomy.

Wilbur Schramm's stutter was traumatic to him and he avoided speaking in public because of it.

Wilbur Schramm graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Marietta College, where he received a bachelor's degree in political science while working as a reporter and editor at The Marietta Daily Herald.

Wilbur Schramm received a master's degree in American civilization from Harvard University, where he worked as a reporter for The Boston Herald.

Wilbur Schramm wrote his dissertation on Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's epic poem, The Song of Hiawatha.

The outbreak of World War II led Wilbur Schramm to join the Office of War Information in 1941 to investigate the nature of propaganda; it was during this time when he began employing behaviorist methodologies.

In 1943, Wilbur Schramm returned to academia as director of the University of Iowa's School of Journalism.

From 1973 to 1975, Wilbur Schramm served as Director of the East-West Center's Communication Institute in Honolulu, Hawaii, and later held the titles of Director Emeritus and Distinguished Senior Fellow.

In 1977 Wilbur Schramm settled in Honolulu, Hawaii, and was active at the Communication Institute at the East-West Center until he died on December 27,1987, at 80 years old at his home.

Wilbur Schramm was survived with his wife Elizabeth, daughter Mary Coberly, and a grandson.

Wilbur Schramm was especially influential for his 1964 book Mass Media and National Development which was published in conjunction with UNESCO, which effectively began research into the link between the spread of communication technology and socioeconomic development.

Wilbur Schramm's books include Mass Media in Modern Society, Quality on Educational Television, and Circulation of News in the Third World.