CEHNS Inaugural Department Chairs

Keith Terry began his career in a tenure-track position at the University of Nebraska at Kearney in 1987 as an instructor. He later took a leave of absence from there to pursue coursework for a Ph.D. at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. Two years later, he returned to the Plains, finished his degree and in 1992 became the chairperson of the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, where he worked. He was eventually tenured and promoted through the ranks to full professor. Terry continued as a department-level administrator there until 2004 when he chose to return to full-time teaching to develop book projects he had been planning. After finishing three of those, he left UNK in 2013 to become the chairperson in the Department of Communication, Media and Languages at Morehead State University in Kentucky. Four productive years later as a tenured full-professor, he left MSU to enter the for-profit world but soon found that he missed stimulating conversations and challenging projects.  In 2019, he was hired as the chairperson of the Department of Communication at Frostburg State University. In March of 2021, he became the assistant dean in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences.  He is temporarily also serving as the chairperson in the FSU Department of Educational Professions.

"Unlike the "Most Interesting Man in the World" who was featured in Dos Equis ads, Keith Terry is the polar opposite.  He possesses a Type A personality, has a tendency to follow a regular routine each day and is supervised at home by an adopted housecat.  When not on campus, he spends a great deal of time and energy on home improvement projects, hiking and cycling.  He enjoys backpacking abroad to refresh his mind and broaden his knowledge of the world.