Prior to his appointment at UConn, Ken was the Founding Chair of the Communication Department at the University of Massachusetts Boston. He also holds research affiliations with UCONN’s Center for Health Intervention and Prevention, and the Communication and Social Robotics Laboratory at Western Michigan University. He was identified in a recentCommunication Education citation analysis as ranking in the top 1% of the field in publication record between 2007 and 2011. His current research interests include the functions and effects of social media during crises and disasters, and the use of social robotics in delivering risk messages.