Alex Lyon started his undergraduate college career as a music major, but was quickly drawn to communication because he loved studying the way people interact, form relationships, and work together. He loved it so much he earned his PhD from the University of Colorado, Boulder in Communication in 2003 with a specialization in Organizational Communication. He joined SUNY Brockport in 2007. His research looks at the complex intersection of power, ethics, and communication in the workplace and has been published as numerous journal articles and book chapters. In 2016, he published his first book, Case Studies in Courageous Communication. While he loves research and writing, his true calling is teaching. In 2016, he received the college’s Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. He loves working with students and appreciates the high quality of life he enjoys as a professor. When he is not at work, you will find him spending time with his wonderful wife and son.
Education
PhD University of Colorado, Boulder
M.A. California State University Northridge
B.A. Rhode Island College
Areas of Specialty
Organizational Communication
Culture, Power, Social, Cultural, and Intellectual Capital
Chesebro, J., & Lyon, A. (2020). Effective and ineffective ways instructors handle student dissent: A critical incident study. Communication Education.
Lyon, A. (2017). Courageous Organizational Communication Case Studies: Research and Practice for Effective Workplaces. Peter Lang Publishing.
Lyon, A. (March 8, 2013). For leaders, transparency takes courage. Rochester Business Journal.
Lyon, A. (October 5, 2012). Business leaders should beware of “common sense.” Rochester Business Journal, p. 42.
Lyon, A., & Ricci, M. (2012). The Case of Wyeth, DesignWrite, and Premarin: The Ethics of Ghostwriting Medical Journal Articles. In Steve May (Ed.) Case Studies in Organizational Communication: Ethical Perspectives and Practices (2nd edition), pp. 197-206. Thousand Oaks: CA: Sage.
Lyon, A. (December 9, 2011). Learn to share negative customer feedback wisely. Rochester Business Journal, p. 38.
Lyon, A., & Mirivel, J.C. (2011). The ethics of pharmaceutical sales talk. Communication Currents, 6 (2).
Lyon, Alexander & Mirivel, Julien. (2011). Reconstructing Merck’s Practical Theory of Communication: The Ethics of Pharmaceutical Sales Representative-Physician Encounters. Communication Monographs, 78, 53-72.
Lyon, Alexander, & Mirivel, Julien. (2010). The Imperative of Ethical Communication Standards in an Era of Commercialized Medicine. Management Communication Quarterly.
Lyon, Alexander, & Chesebro, Joseph (2010). The Politics of Knowledge: A Critical Perspective on Organizational Knowledge. In Heather Canary & Robert McPhee (Eds.), Communication and Organizational Knowledge: Contemporary Issues for Theory and Practice. NY: Routledge.
Lyon, A. & Ulmer, Robert R. (2009). Ethics in “Big Pharma”: Communicating the Risks of Medicine. In Case Studies for Organizational Communication (3rd ed.). Joann Keyton & Pam Shockley-Zalabak Eds. Los Angeles: Roxbury.
Lyon, A. (2008). The Mis/recognition of Enron Executives’ Competence as Cultural and Social Capital. Communication Studies, 59, 371-387.
Lyon, A. (2007). “Putting Patients First”: Systematically Distorted Communication and Merck’s Marketing of Vioxx. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 35, 376-398.
Lyon, A. (2006). The Difficulties of Virtual Leaders. In J. Keyton & P. Shockley-Zalabak (Eds.), Case Studies for Organizational Communication: Understanding Communication Processes. Oxford University Press.
Lyon, A. (2005). ‘Intellectual Capital’ and Struggles over the Perceived Value of Members’ Expert Knowledge in a Knowledge-Intensive Organization. Western Journal of Communication, 69, 251-271.
Lyon, A. (2004). Participants’ Use of Cultural Knowledge as Cultural Capital in a Dot-com Start-up Organization. Management Communication Quarterly, 18, 175-203.
Deetz, S., Grim, A & Lyon, A. (2003). Communicative praxis and collective decision making. In R. E. Ramsey & D. Miller (eds.), Experiences between philosophy and communication: Engaging the philosophical contributions of Calvin O. Schrag (pp. 55-72). Albany: State University of New York Press.
