Dr. Loren Reid

Loren Reid, University of Missouri- Columbia, was founder of the Missouri Association of Teachers of Speech, the original name of STAM. He chronicles the development of the speech and theatre education profession in his book, Speech Teacher: A Random Narrative, copyright 1990. He was first editor of the MATS Journal as well. He was executive secretary and president of the National Communication Association (Now, Speech Communication Association).

When he taught at Syracuse University, he became founder and first president of the New York State association. From these and other groups, he has received numerous awards for distinguished service and research, such as the Winans-Wichelns Memorial Award for Distinguished Scholarship in 1969, the SCA Golden Anniversary Book Award in 1970, and the SCA Distinguished Service Award in 1981. He also received awards for distinguished teaching and service from the University of Missouri and Grinnell College.

Reid has written many books, including: Hurry Home Wednesday: Growing Up in a Small Missouri Town 1905-1921, Finally It's Friday: School and Work in Mid-America, 1921-1933, Speaking Well, and Charles James Fox. His most recent book is Professor on the Losse, an autobiographical narrative on campus life and teaching.

Dr. Reid has established an endowment for the Speech and Theatre Association of Missouri, to be used to award a stipend to winners of our Loren Reid Service Award.

Dr. Reid has been a visiting professor at Michigan, Iowa, Hawaii, Maryland (Overseas Division), Southern California, and Louisiana State University. He retired from UMC in 1975, and is now Professor Emeritus at the University of Missouri-Columbia and resides in Columbia, Missouri.

A note about professional organizations:

"State, regional, and national professional associations can do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. In Missouri, our association has represented us to the Legislature, the State Department of Education, and to regional and national professional groups. When the North Central accrediting agency threatened to abolish high school debate, our organization was called upon to work out a solution. Professional meetings give us superb opportunities to meet new friends, hear new points of view...to develop renewed enthusiasm."