Dr. Rod Troester earned his B.A. by double-majoring in History and Speech & Theatre in 1978 from Western State College in Gunnison, Colorado, his M.S. in Communication Theory in 1980 from Murray State University in Murray, Kentucky, and the Ph.D. in Interpersonal and Organizational communication in 1986 from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois. He serves as chair of the Communication program here at Penn State Behrend, and recently marked his 25th anniversary at Penn State.

His current research interests include the relationship between civility and communication behavior, how grassroots environmental organizations are using new and existing media, and communication strategies for reputation recovery and management. He has published work in each of these areas.

He regularly teaches Introduction to Communication Research, Business and Professional Communication, Organizational Communication, and Public Speaking.