LEHMAN, Pa. — Natalya Vodopyanova has been hired as a faculty member and program coordinator for the Penn State Wilkes-Barre corporate communications program.
“I am looking forward to assisting my students in their learning process and acquiring knowledge and skills that will allow them to reach their personal and professional goals,” Vodopyanova said.
Natalya Vodopyanova Credit: Penn State. Creative Commons
Vodopyanova brings international experience inside and outside of the classroom to Penn State Wilkes-Barre. She has taught and conducted research at colleges in the United States and abroad for more than 10 years. She also has corporate experience in leadership positions across a variety of sectors, including electric power, agriculture and nonprofit.
Prior to joining Penn State Wilkes-Barre, Vodopyanova was a lecturer in arts and humanities at Penn State Altoona. She has also taught college courses at Community College of Allegheny County, University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, Indiana University of Pennsylvania and Kazakh-American Free University. The courses she has taught include effective speech, developing images for the web, public speaking, communications media in American society, research in communications media, and mass media and behavior.
“Communication is the central element of any human activity, and it is among the most important segments within corporations,” Vodopyanova said. “Nowadays, with the rapid development of communication technologies, it is of great importance for organizations to build and maintain effective communication, both externally and internally. This is where our students majoring in corporate communication are coming into play, and this is very exciting to be able to partake in raising a new generation of corporate communication specialists who are highly skilled, creative and able to form strong collaborative teams and who value diversity and ethics.”
Vodopyanova earned her doctorate in communications media and master’s in business administration from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and accounting from Almaty Institute of Economics and Statistics and a bachelor’s degree in teaching English as a second language and linguistics from East Kazakhstan State University.
She has conducted numerous research projects, presented at several graduate research workshops and presentations, and authored publications and papers on a variety of topics. She earned two doctoral fellowships through the Indiana University of Pennsylvania School of Graduate Studies and Research.