UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — S. Shyam Sundar, the James P. Jimirro Professor of Media Effects, director of the Penn State Center for Socially Responsible Artificial Intelligence and founding director of the Media Effects Research Laboratory, has been named an Evan Pugh University Professor, the highest honor that Penn State bestows on a faculty member. The prestigious distinction has been conferred by Penn State to only 79 faculty members since the designation’s establishment in 1960. His appointment is effective July 1.
Sundar is the first faculty member from the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications to be designated as an Evan Pugh University Professor.
“In the field of communication- and media-related research, Dr. Sundar knows few equals. He is a pioneer in producing ground-breaking research on the effects of digital media interfaces and, more recently, human-computer interaction in the context of communication,” said Dean Marie Hardin of the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications. “His impact on the field has been remarkable.”
Sundar is a theorist as well as an experimentalist who examines social and psychological effects of human-computer interaction and computer-mediated communication with a specific focus on technological elements such as multi-modality and interactivity that are unique to modern digital media. His research portfolio includes extensive examination of user responses to online sources, including machine sources such as chatbots, smart speakers and other forms of artificial intelligence.
Sundar was identified as the most published author of internet-related research in the field of communication during the medium’s first decade. His innate curiosity across a variety of disciplines helps shape much of his work, which has proven ground-breaking. For example, he envisioned computers and online peers as sources of news back in 1995, well before the advent of social media and generative AI, and has been tracking how people respond to content emerging from such sources.
“Some of the questions we ask or answers we get may typically belong to different disciplines, but for me it’s more intellectual curiosity about online media and, more importantly, how people respond,” Sundar said. “I’m primarily focused on communication technology and psychology, and certainly my background in journalism fosters that curiosity. I go on a quest for answers without worrying about the fact that I may be straddling disciplines.”
While much of the scholarship in communication technology tends to be carried away by the shiny new thing, Sundar’s work is known for its enduring theoretical value. His concepts and models have helped scholars understand new technologies during the past three decades, a period characterized by the historic emergence of several different forms of “new media” — from websites and mobile devices to social media and AI-based media. “Because new technologies give us new ways of thinking about concepts, it keeps me excited about studying them,” said Sundar.
Sundar is a fellow of the International Communication Association and a recipient of the Frederick Williams Prize awarded for contribution to the study of communication technology. He is also the winner of the Paul J. Deutschmann award for lifetime excellence in research awarded by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.
Sundar, who joined the Penn State faculty in 1995, earned a doctoral degree in communication and psychology from Stanford University, a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Alabama, and a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Bangalore University, India.
He was named a distinguished professor at Penn State in 2009, earned a Faculty Scholar Medal from Penn State in 2016 and was named the inaugural James P. Jimirro Professor of Media Effects in 2018.
“The Evan Pugh designation is not solely about research,” Hardin said. “One selection criterion requires a track record of contributing ‘significantly to the education of students, both undergraduate and graduate.’ His work with graduate students has led them to outstanding academic and industry placement, and his work with undergraduates has been just as impactful.” He is recipient of the Distinguished Educator Award from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.
The Evan Pugh Professorships are awarded to faculty members who are nationally or internationally recognized leaders in their fields of research or creative activity; demonstrate significant leadership in raising the standards of the University with respect to teaching, research or creativity, and service; display excellent teaching skills with undergraduate and graduate students who go on to achieve distinction in their fields; and receive support from colleagues who also are leaders in their disciplines. The professorships are named for Penn State’s founding president, Evan Pugh, a renowned chemist and scholar who was at the helm of the University from 1859 to 1864.