Matthew Gilchrist

Dr. Matthew Gilchrist joins the faculty of Lehigh University’s College of Business as the Director of the Philip Rauch Center for Business Communications and Lecturer in Business. Gilchrist comes to Lehigh from The University of Iowa, where he was Director of Iowa Digital Engagement and Learning (IDEAL) and Associate Professor of Instruction in Rhetoric. He holds an MFA from the Iowa Writers Workshop, where he studied fiction with Pulitzer Prize winning professors Marilynne Robinson and Jim McPherson. He earned his Ph.D. in Language, Literacy, and Culture with research in digital literacy and multimodal communication.

Gilchrist developed IDEAL to offer guidance and support for students and instructors who wish to use digital tools to push learning beyond the classroom and engage the community. He plans to develop similar resources within the Rauch Center for Business Communication, where students will find dynamic programs of support for composing the kinds of presentations, documents, and digital texts that are relevant to employers.

Gilchrist, an award-winning teacher, has a record of excellence in curriculum development and teacher training. His transformational leadership at Iowa moved classroom instruction toward active and collaborative learning models. Through IDEAL and other initiatives, he developed programs to enhance access to technology-enriched collaborative learning environments across campus. As he designs the new Business Communications Sequence, Gilchrist envisions a dynamic and innovative curriculum in which students are challenged by real world problems as they learn the skills necessary to write, speak, read, and listen across a variety of media.

Communicating visually and digitally are particularly important skills in today’s workplace. Gilchrist’s experience developing a digital communication curriculum and support center makes him particularly suited to offer exceptional preparation that will set Lehigh graduates apart. Students in Business Communications I and II can expect rewarding assignment projects in which they learn to be flexible rhetoricians who are confident communicators in any setting.

Education

• The University of Tennessee, B.A.
• The University of Iowa, MFA
• The University of Iowa, Ph.D.

Research Interests

• Multimodal composition
• Rhetoric
• Higher education literacies