Linda L. Putnam is a Distinguished Research Professor Emeriti in the Department of Communication at UCSB. As a specialist in organizational communication, she has conducted research and teaching in the areas of negotiation and conflict management, labor and environmental disputes, and organizational dilemmas. She has also studied the tensions in organizational work-life issues as well as hybrid workspace arrangements. She has served as President of three professional societies, the Council of Communication Associations, the International Communication Association, and the International Association of Conflict Management and as a member of the Board of Governors for the Academy of Management Association.

She was elected a Fellow of the International Communication Association, the International Association of Conflict Management, and the Academy of Management Association, a Distinguished Scholar of the National Communication Association and has received several Lifetime Achievement awards. She holds Honorary Doctorate degrees from Aalto University in Helsinki, Finland and the University of Montreal in Canada. In 2015, she was selected as the UCSB Faculty Distinguished Research Lecturer for extraordinary achievements in research and scholarly work.

As a former Department Chair, she helped to develop the Communication Alumni Council to foster career education and alumni relations. Recently, she founded the Putnam Interdisciplinary Scholar Award to recognize graduate students in Communication who extend their research and collaborations beyond their primary field. She also currently serves on the Board for the Women’s Fund of Santa Barbara.

She holds a B.A. in Communication from Hardin-Simmons University in Texas, an M.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota.