Meet Ted

Our visits to Eugene started in 1995 when we would spend a few weeks each summer in Oregon visiting friends and family. As our Eugene friendship circle became larger, we started thinking about moving to the area. Then in 2012, after searching for two years, we found our forever home, an 1890 Queen Anne near Monroe Park. We moved to Eugene full time in 2016. I have worked Oregon Country Fair for Jaguar Art Glass and later Rising Moon Ravioli every year since.

Our friend Ann is a pro yard saler and Stephanie and I are out with her most Saturdays during the season, so I have been in almost every neighborhood and talked with folks all over. It made me realize how unique our neighborhoods are and how that makes Eugene such a great place to live.

We walk a lot with our dogs, first with our border collie mix River and now with our golden retriever mix Raven. We bike for much of our daily transportation. We love going to Ballet Fantastique and Broadway in Eugene shows at the Hult Center, having coffee at Farmers Union, and eating at the many excellent restaurants within walking and biking distance of our house.

I spend much of my time in the spring, summer, and fall tending a large vegetable garden and fruits trees, canning, drying, sharing, and eating! 

After a chance meeting, I was recruited to run for the Jefferson Westside Neighbors (JWN) Board in 2016. New in town, I listened and learned from neighbors what is means to be a Eugenian and an Oregonian, and what matters to the community. 

Leadership

• Jefferson Westside Neighbors

  • Executive Board Chair 2018 -present.

  • Executive Board At-large Member (2016-2018)

  • Lead: Friends of Monroe Park 2016-present

• Eugene Chamber of Commerce Business Leaders Task Force on Homelessness; Data and Accountability Committees. I was the only neighborhood leader invited to join. (2021-present)

• Association of Internet Researchers Executive Committee (2005-2011)

• American Communication Association Board (1997-2002)

• San José State University 

  • Academic Technology Faculty and Staff Advisory Committee, 2015-2016

  • Learning and Games Consortium member, 2013 - 2015

  • Campus-wide Coordinator and Program Designer, Faculty Consultant for Academic Technology, 2013-2014

  • Learning Management System Advisory Committee, 2012 

Background 

I was the first in my family to earn a college degree, graduating from Fresno State University. I later earned a Master of Science in Mass Communication Law and History in 1995 from San José State University. I completed my Ph.D. in Communication from the University of Washington in 2008. 

I have been an activist, primarily in the media democracy and global justice movements, since the early 1990s. I helped build a national coalition using the then new internet. The result was a change in federal broadcasting law that restored the ability of communities to operate low power FM stations in 2000. My activism formed the foundation for my research published in 13 academic journals and two edited volumes. I presented more than 40 competitively-selected conference papers nationally and internationally earning several awards. 

I served on the Communication Studies faculty at San José State University for 13 years and the University of Louisville for 11 years (remotely) until my retirement in 2020. I founded and directed a student Social Media Team and an undergraduate research conference. During that time, I trained faculty on online learning platforms, switching to teaching completely online in 2015.

Before becoming an academic, I spent 15 years in the restaurant and catering industry as well as time as a house painter, laboring on a tree crew, running a mobile auto detailing service, and in sales. I also taught martial arts and helped run a martial arts school while studying with the Qadiri Rifa’I Sufi Order.