Denton, Robert E., Jr. (1953–)

Robert E. Denton, Jr. is a professor in the Department of Communication at Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, Virginia. He also holds the W. Thomas Rice Chair at the Rice Center for Leader Development and serves as director of the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets Center for Leadership Development. Denton received his doctorate from Purdue University. An expert in presidential communication, Denton also is well known as the editor of a series of political communication books, first for Praeger Publishers and later for Rowman & Littlefield. This series has been a major venue for political communication scholarship.

At Virginia Tech, Denton is a former chair of the Department of Communication. He has written or edited a number of books, including Ethical Dimensions of Political Communication; The Media and the Persian Gulf War; Images, Scandal, and Communication Strategies of the Clinton Presidency (with Rachel L. Holloway); Presidential Communication (with Dan F. Hahn); and Political Communication in America (with Gary C. Woodword). In addition, he edits a compendium on the communication in presidential elections, beginning in 1992 with The 1992 Presidential Campaign, with a separate volume on each subsequent presidential campaign, that serve as important sources for political communication students and scholars. He has also written extensively on the role of religion and morality in political communication.

Active in the Southern States Communication Association, Denton received that organization's Outreach Award in 1999 and the Michael M. Osborn Teacher-Scholar Award in 2003. Denton also regularly appears in the media as a commentator and expert on political communication.