Glenn Cummins

Biography

Glenn Cummins is Associate Dean for Faculty and Academic Affairs in the College of Media & Communication at Texas Tech University, and Professor in the Department of Journalism & Creative Media Industries.  He previously served in leadership roles as Associate Dean for Research and Grants (2013-2021) and Director of the College's Center for Communication Research (2012-2021).  He has also served as Interim Chair for the Department of Journalism & Creative Media Industries (2023-2025) and Interim Area Coordinator for the College's Media & Communication courses and faculty (2022-2023).  Prior to his academic career, he worked as a television news producer, videographer, and editor.

Research

His research is in the area of media psychology and employs a variety of methods and measurement approaches, including psychophysiology/biometrics, eye tracking, continuous response measurement, and more.  He has authored more than 60 scholarly articles and book chapters, including top journals such as the Journal of Communication, Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, the Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, Media Psychology, and more.  He has been an investigator on projects sponsored by federal and state agencies in excess of $1M.

Selected Publications

• Cummins, R.G. (in press). Sports reporting, reporter sex, and perceived credibility: After 30 years, what do we know? Communication & Sport. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/21674795261428470 
• Cummins, R.G., & Hahn, D. (2024). 10 Years of Communication & Sport: A review of theory, method, and authorship. Communication & Sport, 13(5), 881-903. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/21674795241293041 
• Cummins, R.G. & Hahn, D. (2022). Selective exposure and exemplification within sports highlights. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 66(1), 22-46. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08838151.2021.2008938 
• Cummins, R. G., Gong, Z., & Reichert, T. (2021). The impact of visual sexual appeals on attention allocation within advertisements: An eye-tracking study. International Journal of Advertising. doi: 10.1080/02650487.2020.1772656
• Cummins, R.G., & Cui, B. (2014).  Reconceptualizing address in television programming: The effect of address and affective empathy on viewer experience of parasocial interaction. Journal of Communication, 64, 723-742.

Teaching Focus

Dr. Cummins's departmental home is within the Department of Journalism & Creative Media Industries, where he has taught classes on electronic media and society, media theories, producing sports media, and video production and editing.

At the graduate level, he has taught courses on research methods, mass communication theory, data analysis, sports media/sports communication and more.  He has supervised or served on more than 100 graduate student committees.