Theory and practice in interpersonal attraction

Steve Duck (Ph.D., University of Sheffield, UK; M.A. & B.A., Pembroke College, Oxford, UK) conducts work on communication in relationship development and disintegration and focuses particularly on everyday communication in the context of personal relationships, especially variation in experience and communication during the day. He won the University of Iowa's first Graduate College Outstanding Mentor Award in 2001. In 2004 he won the Robert J. Kibler Memorial Award from NCA, which "recognizes NCA members who have demonstrated dedication to excellence, commitment to the profession, concern for others, vision of what could be, acceptance of diversity, and forthrightness." Duck has published many research papers and chapters and has written or edited 46 books on relationships and other matters. He was the founder of the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships (SAGE) and its editor for its first 15 years. His 1994 book, Meaningful Relationships: Talking, Sense and Relating, won the G R Miller Book Award from the Interpersonal Division of the National Communication Association. His introductory book Human Relationships has run to four editions and his most recent works are Dragon & Duck, Understanding Relationship Research: A Text with Readings (2005, SAGE Ltd); Kirkpatrick, Duck, & Foley, Relating Difficulty: Processes of Constructing and Managing Difficult Interaction (2006, Erlbaum); and Wood & Duck, Composing Relationships: Communication in Everyday Life (2006, Wadsworth).