Nancy Baym

Nancy Baym, Ph.D. is an American academic, formerly a Professor of Communication Studies at the University of Kansas and currently a Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research.She was a member of the founding board and former president of the Association of Internet Researchers, and serves on the board of several academic journals covering new media and communication.She has published research and provided media commentary on the topics of social communication, new media, and fandom.

• 1994, Ph.D., Speech Communication, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
• 1988, M.A., Speech Communication, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
• 1986, B.A., Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Wisconsin-Madison.

• 2012–present, Principal Researcher, Microsoft Research.
• 2002–2012, Professor, Department of Communication Studies, University of Kansas.
• 1999-2002, Assistant Professor, Department of Communication Studies, University of Kansas.
• 1994-1999, Assistant Professor, Department of Communication, Wayne State University.
• 1992-1994, Visiting Teaching Associate in Speech Communication, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
• 1986-1992, Teaching Assistant in Speech Communication, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Baym has published four monographs, besides numerous articles.

In Tune In, Log On: Soaps, Fandom, and Online Community (2000), Baym argues that soap opera fans form "a dynamic community of people with unique voices, distinctive traditions, and enjoyable relationships."

Personal Connections in the Digital Age (2010), is about thinking critically about the roles of digital media in personal relationships, it offers data-grounded information on how to makes sense of these changes in relational life. She defines seven concepts "that can be used to differentiate digital media and which influence how people use them and with what effects." These concepts are interactivity, temporal structure, social cues, storage, replicability, reach and mobility. Ultimately, "the author states at the end that the book was written for those who see communication technologies as new and different, those who take them for granted and those who will be thinking through technologies not yet invented," claimed Stuart James Fitz-Gerald in his review of the book.

• Center for Teaching Excellence Award (2004)
• $5,000 Kemper Awards for excellent teaching (2005)