色色研究所

Elizabeth Tomlinson

Assistant Professor of Instruction
Director, BS in Management
ectomlinson@usf.edu 
Campus: Tampa
Room: BSN 3516
Phone: 813-905-1073

Elizabeth 鈥淏eth鈥� Tomlinson is the director of the undergraduate management major and an assistant professor of instruction. She joined the 色色研究所 in fall 2024 after a distinguished career at West Virginia University鈥檚 John Chambers College of Business and Economics, where she was named Teaching Professor Emerita. At WVU, Tomlinson served as the founding director of the Business Communication Center and coordinated the business communication curriculum for over a decade, leading assurance of learning efforts and mentoring many new faculty.

Tomlinson has taught internationally at the University of Iowa鈥檚 CIMBA Italy program and at Tianjin University of Finance and Engineering. She previously contributed at Kent State University and John Carroll University in the areas of writing program management and writing center leadership.

She earned her PhD in rhetoric and composition from Kent State University, a master鈥檚 degree from John Carroll University, and her bachelor鈥檚 degree from the College of Wooster. Her research focuses on business rhetoric and communication, with an emphasis on bridging theory and practice. Her book Applied Business Rhetoric was published by Rowman & Littlefield in 2024, and her scholarship has appeared in journals such as the Journal of Business and Technical Communication, Business and Professional Communication Quarterly, Composition Studies, Computers and Composition, Community Literacy Journal, and others. Current research projects examine the language of corporate bankruptcy, goal-setting with human and AI audiences in communication contexts, and the intersection of rhetoric and negotiation.

Tomlinson is an active member of the Association for Business Communication, where she previously chaired the Business Communication Center Special Interest Group. She has also served as a reviewer for multiple academic journals and conferences, and regularly consults on professional writing for academic and industry clients, including AI and app development firms.

Teaching

• GEB 6215 Communication Skills for Managers
• MAN 4441 Negotiation and Conflict Resolution
• MAN 4940 Management Internship

Research 

• Tomlinson, E. (2024). Applied Business Rhetoric. Rowman & Littlefield- Lexington Books. doi: 978-1-66690-547-2
• Tomlinson, E. (2023). Bringing an entrepreneurial lens to the business communication course. Business and Professional Communication Quarterly.
• Tomlinson, E. (2020). Stasis in the Shark Tank: Persuading an audience of funders to act on behalf of entrepreneurs. Journal of Business and Technical Communication.
• Tomlinson, E. & Newman, S. (2018). Epideictic rhetoric born digital: Evolution of the letters of recommendation genre. Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 32(1).
• Tomlinson, E. (2017). Enhancing student learning through scaffolded client projects. Business and Professional Communication Quarterly.
  • Awarded article of the year in BPCQ by Association of Business Communication