Zachary Glowacki Honored as Emerging Scholar in Nonverbal Communication

A researcher who joined Landmark College earlier this year has been recognized as an emerging scholar in the study of nonverbal communication.

“We send messages to one another via other channels other than words,” said Zachary Glowacki, a research scholar for STRIVE. He lists examples: facial expressions; the tone, pitch, or volume of one’s voice; posture; and gestures, among others.

“All of those may send signals or messages to the other person or persons that we're trying to communicate a message to,” Glowacki said.

Glowacki is this year’s winner of the Nonverbal Communication Division Emerging Scholar Award from the National Communication Association (NCA). 

The NCA is a not-for-profit, membership-based scholarly society founded in 1914, and the Nonverbal Communication Division is one of the society’s many interest groups. This award, according to the interest group’s Facebook page, "recognizes a new scholar who studies nonverbal communication and whose work shows promise in contributing to our understanding of nonverbal communication."

Senior Director of the Landmark College Institute for Research and Training (LCIRT) Rick Bryck called the award a fitting tribute to Glowacki’s exceptional early-career scholarship. 

“Earning the NCA Nonverbal Communication Division Emerging Scholar Award highlights not only the caliber of his research, but the deep impact and promising trajectory of his work,” Bryck said. “We’re excited to see how his future endeavors will impact work being done here at Landmark.”

Glowacki earned his Ph.D. in Communication from the University at Buffalo, SUNY. He has presented at NCA conferences several times. To be considered for this award, he submitted information on his past research, his teaching philosophy, and service to the field. His service has included being vice president of the nonverbal communication division of the Eastern Communication Association and reviewing journal article submissions.

“I’m honored,” he said of winning the award. “It reinforces that what I’m doing is impactful and that what I’m studying is important.”

Glowacki is currently studying the learning process in his work at Landmark College. He describes his research as asking questions such as "what does learning look like? What does learning sound like? How do we know somebody is learning?” 

He names trust as a significant trait in his research.

“What does trust look like?” he asked. “What does trust sound like? How does that influence the learning process between a teacher and a student?”

He is also looking into how the study of nonverbal communication applies to neurodivergence, such as Autism Spectrum Disorder, which can affect the way social cues are processed.

“I’ll have more information sooner than later,” Glowacki said.

Glowacki completed his undergraduate education in psychology and sociology at Niagara University, and earned his Master of Arts in communication at the University at Buffalo, SUNY, where he would go on to get his Ph.D. His interest in psychology took hold around the time he was in high school. He names his older brother, a psychologist, as a role model.

It wasn’t long before he started focusing on individuals who learn and experience the world differently. Glowacki’s experience prior to Landmark includes working at a youth agency for individuals with emotional and behavioral challenges, and, during his graduate education, studying children with challenges in speech and language processing.

“It’s an area that I’ve always been interested and passionate about,” Glowacki said. “It was meant to be that I continue on this path.”