Biography
Matthew J. Baker is an associate professor of editing and publishing in the Department of Linguistics. He loves teaching. He teaches courses on copyediting, content analysis, online publication, employment communication, technical editing, and social media marketing and analysis. Before joining the Department of Linguistics, he taught courses in management communication as a graduate student at BYU. In addition, he worked in the writing center and taught report and proposal writing, business communication, technical communication, and composition as a graduate student at Iowa State University.
Professor Baker’s research focuses on professional discourse. Specifically, he studies employment communication, business communication, technical communication, technical editing, and online feedback. He enjoys conducting research for professional and pedagogical settings, and he enjoys collaborating with his students on projects. His research has been published in top-tier business and professional communication journals. For his research, he has been honored to receive the Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award from the Association for Business Communication and the Outstanding State Manuscript Award from the Central States Communication Association. He is also a coauthor of the textbook Professional Writing and Speaking.
Professor Baker earned his PhD in rhetoric and professional communication from Iowa State University. Before his doctoral work, he earned an MBA from BYU and worked in financial technology. He gained first-hand experience of how editing and publishing skills can benefit a professional career, so he loves helping his students prepare for their careers.
As a young man, Professor Baker served a full-time mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Budapest, Hungary, and he currently serves in the elders quorum presidency of his congregation. He and his wife and sweetheart, Marianne, live in Spanish Fork, Utah, and they are the parents of six amazing children.
Education
- PhD, Rhetoric and Professional Communication , Iowa State University (2017)
- Master of Business Administration, General Business , Brigham Young University (2013)
- Bachelor of Arts, Economics , Business Management, Brigham Young University (2006)
Honors and Awards
- Outstanding State Manuscript Award, Central States Communication Association (2023 - 2023)
- Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award, Association for Business Communication (2018 - 2018)
Memberships
- ACES: The Society for Editing (2020 - Present)
- National Council of Teachers of English (2020 - Present)
- LDS Publishing and Media Association (2018 - Present)
- Association for Business Communication (2012 - Present)
Professional Citizenship
- Committee/Council Chair, Association for Business Communication Graduate Studies Committee (2024 - Present)
- Editorial Review Board Member, Association for Business Communication (2017 - Present)
- Reviewer, Ad Hoc Reviewer, Business and Professional Communication Quarterly; International Journal of Business Communication; Language and Communication; Journal of Business and Technical Communication (2016 - Present)
- Committee/Council Member, Association for Business Communication Graduate Studies Committee (2014 - Present)
- Committee/Council Member, Applied Rhetoric Collaborative Publications Group (2018 - 2019)