Contributions of E. C. Buehler to the Basic Speech Course.

The name of Ezra Christian Buehler deserves to be added to the list of significant contributors to speech communication education. As an instructor at the University of Kansas, Professor Buehler has distinguished himself through his contributions to basic speech students, graduate students in speech education, and his colleagues. He expressed his belief in the discipline of speech and in speech students in a 1960 essay entitled "Credo--A Declaration of Faith Concerning Speech Education," and in his book, "Speech: A First Course." And he has practiced three basic principles he himself advanced for teachers of the basic speech course: (1) know the students, (2) motivate them, and (3) maintain a congenial classroom. Further showing his dedication to the basic speech course and his desire to recognize and encourage outstanding teachers, Buehler was instrumental in establishing a teaching award for first-year basic speech teachers. Buehler also organized the "Conference of Directors of Basic Speech Courses of Midwestern Universities. Intended as a single meeting in 1961, the conference has agreed unanimously to meet every year since. The learning he encouraged at that first conference has spread to a second and third generation of course directors. (HTH)