Dr. Jennifer L. Bevan (B.A., M.A., University of Delaware; Ph.D., University of Georgia) is a professor in the School of Communication. Dr. Bevan’s research interests focus on how individuals communicatively negotiate difficult relational interactions, such as ongoing conflict, jealousy, family caregiving, chronic illness, online surveillance, as well as related psychological and physical health correlates of these experiences. She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in interpersonal communication, research methods and senior capstone, nonverbal communication, and conflict.

Dr. Bevan's publications include over 80 scholarly communication and biomedical articles and book chapters appearing in such journals as Human Communication Research, Communication Research, Social Science and Medicine, and Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking. She was recognized in 2009 and 2016 as one of the most prolific and central scholars in the field of communication. She is also a former Valerie Scudder Award winner, which is Chapman University’s top faculty “all-around” award for teaching, research, and service.

Her first book, The Communication of Jealousy (published by Peter Lang in 2013) was awarded the 2014 Diamond Anniversary Book Award by the National Communication Association (NCA), the 2016 International Association for Relationship Research Book Award, the 2014 Gerald R. Miller Book Award by the Interpersonal Communication Division of NCA, and the 2013 Outstanding Book Award by NCA’s Communication and Social Cognition Division. Her dissertation received the 2003 Interpersonal Communication Division Dissertation Award from the International Communication Association. Dr. Bevan has also received numerous top paper awards in health and interpersonal communication at national and regional communication conventions. She is currently an Associate Editor for the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, serves on multiple journal editorial boards, and is a former editor of the journal Communication Reports, published by the Western States Communication Association.