Robert T. Oliver
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Robert Tarbell Oliver (July 7, 1909 – May 29, 2000) was an American writer, lecturer, and an authority on public speaking, argumentation and debate, and Asian rhetorical traditions.


Biography

Oliver was born in
Sweet Home, Oregon Sweet Home is a city in Linn County, Oregon, United States, with population 8,925 at the 2010 census. Built near the site of a prehistoric petrified forest, Sweet Home experienced substantial growth during the construction of the Green Peter an ...
. He graduated from
Pacific University Pacific University is a private university in Forest Grove, Oregon. Founded in 1849 as the Tualatin Academy, the original Forest Grove campus is west of Portland. The university maintains three other campuses in Eugene, Hillsboro, and Wo ...
. He received his M.A. from the
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in 1933 and earned his Ph.D. in Speech from the
University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...
in 1936. He served as Assistant Director of the Victory Speakers Bureau in the
Office of Civilian Defense Office of Civilian Defense was a United States federal emergency war agency set up May 20, 1941, by to co-ordinate state and federal measures for protection of civilians in case of war emergency. Its two branches supervised protective function ...
in Washington, D.C. during World War II. He was also Chief of the National Food Conservation Office in the War Foods Department. Oliver was appointed Professor and Chair of the Department of Speech at Pennsylvania State University in 1949. He then became an adviser to President Syngman Rhee. By special arrangement, he continued to serve the Korean government in that capacity while he was at Pennsylvania State University. He also taught Clark Junior College, Bradley College,
Bucknell University Bucknell University is a private liberal arts college in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1846 as the University at Lewisburg, it now consists of the College of Arts and Sciences, Freeman College of Management, and the College of Engineering ...
, and Syracuse University. Oliver retired as Research Professor Emeritus of International Speech in the Department of Communication Arts and Sciences at Pennsylvania State University in 1970. He served as president of the
National Communication Association The National Communication Association (NCA) is a not-for-profit association of academics in the field of communication. Organization NCA is governed by the Legislative Assembly, which meets during the NCA Annual Convention. Between annual me ...
in 1964, president of the Eastern Communication Association in 1967, and president of the Pennsylvania State Communication Association. Oliver was a pioneering scholar in the study of Asian rhetorics and communication. He authored more than 50 books on international rhetoric, intercultural communication, and Asian history.


Asian Interest and Influence

He has for many years made a study of Korea, and was a close friend and associate of Syngman Rhee, and served as an adviser to President Rhee in
Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...
, and to the Korean Commission and the Korean Delegation to the
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Since 1947 he has managed the Washington Bureau.of the Korean Pacific Press and was the editor of the monthly magazine Korean Survey According to Robert Shuter, "For over sixty years, Dr. Oliver wrote prolifically about the impact of culture on rhetoric and communication. Although Dr. Oliver rarely used the words ''intercultural communication'' in his writings, which were voluminous, he contributed greatly to the development of the field." He stated that "Dr. Oliver’s landmark Asian research, which began around 1942, influenced a generation of communication researchers in many specialties including intercultural communication."


* Oliver, R. T. (1939). ''Training for effective speech''. New York: Cordon. * Oliver, R. T. (1942). ''Psychology of persuasive speech''. New York: Longmans, Green & Co. * Oliver, R. T. (1944). ''Korea: Forgotten nation''. Washington, DC:

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. * Oliver, R. T. (1945). ''Effective speech notebook''. Syracuse, NY:
Syracuse University Press Syracuse University Press, founded in 1943, is a university press that is part of Syracuse University. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. History SUP was formed in August 1943 when president William P. Tolley pro ...
. * Oliver, R. T. (1946). ''Four who spoke out: Burke, Fox, Sheridan, Pitt''. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press. * Oliver, R. T. (1950). ''Persuasive speaking: Principles and methods''. New York: Longmans, Green & Co. * Oliver, R. T. (1950). ''Why war came in Korea''. New York:
Fordham University Press The Fordham University Press is a publishing house, a division of Fordham University, that publishes primarily in the humanities and the social sciences. Fordham University Press was established in 1907 and is headquartered at the university's Li ...
. * Oliver, R. T. (1951). ''The truth about Korea''. London: Putman. * Oliver, R. T. (1952). ''Verdict in Korea''. State College, PA: Bald Eagle Press. * Oliver, R. T. (Ed.). (1953). ''Korea, my country by Yung Tai Pyun''. Washington, DC: Library of International Speech, Korean Pacific Press. * Oliver, R. T. (1954). ''Syngman Rhee: The man behind the myth''. New York: Dodd Mead.Bibliographic detail taken from a hardback copy of '' Syngman Rhee'' which is illustrated and first published by Robert Hale
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in 1955
* Oliver, R. T. (1962). ''Culture and communication: The problem of penetrating national and cultural boundaries''. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas. * Oliver, R. T. (1971). ''Communication and culture in ancient India and China''. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press. * Oliver, R. T. (1989). ''Leadership in Asia: Persuasive communication in the making of nations, 1850-1950''. Newark, NJ:
University of Delaware Press The University of Delaware Press (UDP) is a publishing house and a department of the University of Delaware in the United States, whose main campus is at Newark, Delaware, where the University Press is also based. Established in the early 1970s ...
. * Oliver, R. T. (1993). ''A history of the Korean people in modern times: 1800 to the present.'' Newark, DE: University of Delaware Press. * Oliver, R. T. (1997). ''The way it was–All the way: A documentary accounting''. Washington, DC: National Communication Association (originally published in ''Communication Quarterly'', Vol. 45, No. 2, pp. 1–130). * Oliver, R. T., & Cortright, R. L. (1946/1952). ''The new training for effective speech''. New York: Dryden Press. * Oliver, R. T., & Robbins, H. L. (1943). "Developing ideas into essays and speeches''. New York: Longman. * Oliver, R. T., Zelko, H. P., & Hickey, D. C. (1949). ''Essentials of communicative speech''. New York: Holt, Rhinehart & Winston. ;About Robert T. Oliver * Berquist, G. (1990). The rhetorical travels of Robert T. Oliver. ''Rhetoric Review'', ''9''(1), 173-183. https://www.jstor.org/stable/465429 * Fritz, J. M. H. (Ed.). (2010). ''The Pennsylvania Scholars Series: Vol. 5 Robert T. Oliver—Standard bearer of the discipline''. Pittsburgh, PA: Pennsylvania Communication Association. * Oliver, R. T. (1993). My life as a Korean ghost. '' Korea Journal'', ''33''(4), 68-80. http://www.ekoreajournal.net/
reference to this article and three more in ''Korea Journal''
(search results) * Shuter, R. (2011). Robert T. Oliver: Trailblazer in intercultural communication. ''China Media Research'', ''7''(2), 121-126. http://epublications.marquette.edu/comm_fac/53/


References


External links



{{DEFAULTSORT:Oliver, Robert T Pennsylvania State University faculty Communication theorists 1909 births 2000 deaths People from Sweet Home, Oregon