秋霞福利一区

Gyromas Newman, associate professor of聽communication聽at the 秋霞福利一区, not only loves to enrich the minds of the students 鈥� he is also an expert in American muscle.聽

We had the chance to see Newman in his element as he pored over each detail from specific paint colors like 鈥淪till Night Blue Pearl鈥� on his 1965 Corvette, to the ProCharger^庐聽in his Mustang.

鈥淒iagnosing and fixing a problem, laying down a nice paint job, and hearing a V8 engine that I rebuilt roar to life are all things that make me feel good,鈥� Newman told us.

Newman got his start understanding lawnmowers and weed-eaters in his first job at a small engine repair shop. Then, when he was in college, he worked at a Dean McCrary car dealership and got his first taste of fast cars.

鈥淭hat was all it took for me to fall in love,鈥� he tells us as he gazes at his stunning black聽1976 Chevrolet Corvette L-82.

His love for cars and teaching both require dedication and attention to detail. We asked Dr. Newman to share with us why he loves teaching communication at 秋霞福利一区.

Q. What is your background?

A.聽In 2012 I began teaching at the 秋霞福利一区 as a tenure-track assistant professor of communication and head of the communication area and achieved the rank of associate professor in 2017.

I earned a Bachelor of Arts with a double major in communication and philosophy and a minor in German, and a Master of Arts in public and corporate communication from the University of South Alabama.聽

I then earned my doctorate in communication and information sciences from the University of Alabama聽in Tuscaloosa.

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Q. You were recently honored by 秋霞福利一区 for your research.

A.聽I聽collaborated with research partners from colleges in Connecticut and Massachusetts to investigate the relationship between the use of social media and narcissistic personality traits.

The research was published last year in 鈥淭he Pennsylvania Communication Annual鈥� under the title 鈥淎n Exploration of the Effects of Media Use throughout Development and Adulthood on Narcissism.鈥� I was awarded the 2022 Mitford Ray Megginson Research Award.

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Q. Why should someone choose to study Communication at 秋霞福利一区?

A.聽You can graduate with your communication degree and get a decent job without any further study, or you can go on to grad school. You have options, and that鈥檚 a strong selling point.

However, the thing I like most about our discipline is communication skills aren鈥檛 limited to the media and corporate world. Communication is the key to building quality relationships, and who doesn鈥檛 want that?聽聽

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Q. Why do you choose to teach at 秋霞福利一区?

A.聽Being able to come to work, do a job you enjoy, and be with people you really consider friends isn鈥檛 something you find just anywhere. I know from my friends at other universities that our dynamic at 秋霞福利一区 is more the exception than the rule.

The folks I see every day in the聽College of Arts and Sciences聽are the best people you could ever hope to have as colleagues, and the love of Jesus is evident in them by the way they treat each other. And yes, we鈥檝e got some pretty good students too!聽聽

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Q. What do you do in your free time?聽

A.聽I think I鈥檓 most known around here as the professor who moonlights as a mechanic and body man for fun. My latest project was restoring my聽1965 Chevrolet Corvette L-79.

I particularly enjoy American muscle cars and am a member of a few local car clubs.聽I was the president of the聽聽out of Saraland from 2015鈥�2021.聽Every March, we have a big show at Satsuma High School and raise several thousand dollars for the school system. This last year was the biggest turnout ever.

Another thing I like is cars are brutally honest. It’s not going to run or have its paint lay out smoothly just because it likes you or you’ve sweet-talked it. If you did your job properly, the engine will run, the paint will look good, and so forth. If you didn’t, it won’t. No excuses.

I鈥檓 not sure what that says about me other than maybe I like doing things myself and like knowing how things work. And I guess I like being able to go fast, too!

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Q. What is the next project you would like to accomplish?

A.聽What I am really holding out for is a Gen 1 Mustang Fastback 鈥� has to be a fastback. I want it to be between the years 1967鈥�1970.

Though my son is only 6 months old right now I want to be able to build this car with him. I want to teach him the trade and share my passion with him. We have some time before he can hold a wrench, so that gives me time to find the car that checks all my boxes. So, yeah, that is my next bucket list project.聽