Biography: Dr. Waller is a Professor of Communication (speech) at Northwest Nazarene University (Nampa, ID). Waller has served as an educator or administrator for nearly forty-five years with both high school and multiple university experiences with nearly forty years at NNU having served on most committees and held faculty officer positions. He has served on various regional and national boards, for example, Northwest Communication Association (Lt. Governor; Governor), Pi Kappa Delta (Northwest region representative), National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships (national Board of Directors as Private Universities representative, Advocacy Commission, District 5 representative). Waller has consulted with a variety of small private and public organizations concerning issues of communication.

Favorite Thing About Working at NNU: The community spirit of working together for a common cause, not just academic, but for the future of God’s call upon all of us to love our neighbor. Yes, our task at NNU is to train our students academically in a major for a possible career, but more importantly to communicate and reinforce the love of Christ in such a way that our students will carry that love into their future careers and communities.

Share a few facts about your specific area(s) of expertise that you bring to the classroom: 

Communication: many years of experience in using all aspects of communication in various settings.
Leadership: multiple leadership and consulting roles with private, non-profit and public groups.
Education: as a public school educator, mentor of teachers and consultant with administration in multiple high schools and school districts.

Share a few pieces of information that represent your teaching experience and why you love working with students: Having taught for many years, I still enjoy watching “the light” come on in a student’s eyes as they begin to understand how communication can impact anything they might do now or in the future. Thus, communication is a lenses through which we view ourselves, others and our world.

Coaching speech and debate activities remains a strong interest for me personally, but more importantly, an opportunity for involved students to develop their individual communication skills for use in whatever career they select. As a result of this activity, I have had students turn to careers in law, management, media and ministry.