Pamela Whitten, Ph.D., is Dean of the College of Communication Arts & Sciences at Michigan State University and a Professor in the Department of Telecommunication, Information Studies & Media.

In her faculty position, Whitten is responsible for conducting technology and health-related research, as well as teaching graduate and undergraduate courses.

Prior to becoming dean, she was associate dean of graduate studies and research in the college.

Whitten enjoys an international reputation as a leading researcher in the field of telemedicine. Specifically, her research focuses on the use of technology in health care with a specific interest in telehealth and its impact on the delivery of health care services and education.

Prior research projects range from telepsychiatry to telehospice and telehome care for COPD and CHF patients. In addition to her work assessing outcomes and impacts of telemedicine, she also conducts research that examines innovative uses of mediated communication to reach underserved populations, such as the creation of health websites for low literate adults.

Whitten has enjoyed success in obtaining a wide array of research grants for her work in the field of health and technology through such funders as the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Commerce, the US Department of Agriculture, Health Resources and Service Administration, Michigan Department of Community Health, Regenstrief Center for Healthcare Engineering, and the Kellogg Foundation,

Prior to joining the faculty of MSU in 1998, Whitten ran the telemedicine program for the state of Kansas through the University of Kansas Medical Center.

Whitten's academic achievements and awards include a Ph.D. in communication from the University of Kansas; an MA in communication from the University of Kentucky, and a BS in management from Tulane University. She graduated magna cum laude, Beta Gamma Sigma and Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Societies. In 2002, she was awarded with a prestigious Teacher-Scholar award from Michigan State University. The National Library of Medicine and American Medical Women’s Association awarded her in 2004 with the Local Legends in Medicine. She also received the Linkugel Distinguished Alumni Lecture Series Award from the University of Kansas in 2006 and the MSU Outreach Scholarship Award in 2008. In 2007/2008, she was a fellow in the CIC-ALP Leadership Fellowship Program.

She is a past officer on the Board of Directors for the American Telemedicine Association, and is active in the National Communication Association and the International Communication Association. In addition to authoring/editing three books, she has published more than 100 publications that have appeared in numerous journals and books, including the British Medical Journal, the Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare, Journal of Telemedicine and eHealth, Journal of Computer Mediated Communication, The American Journal of Hospice & Palliative Care, Journal of Continuing Education in the Health Professions, Science Communication, Health Communication, Cyberpsychology & Behavior, Disease Management and Health Outcomes, Journal for Technology in Human Services, International Journal for Technology Assessment in Healthcare, Communications of the ACM, and the Journal of School Health.