Dr. Lori A. Sefton

Dr. Lori A. Sefton earned her bachelor’s degree in Radio-Television with an emphasis in sales and management. She then worked in radio sales and production. She returned to graduate school to pursue her desire to help others communicate more effectively, both personally and corporately, and completed her master’s degree in speech education and then her PhD in organizational communication. Dr. Sefton taught at SIUC for eight years and worked in SIUC administration for six years, lastly as the Assistant Dean for External Affairs for the College of Agriculture (COA). In this position, she led the college recruitment, scholarship, alumni relations, and development programs. Two of her favorite parts of this position were directing the SIUC Agbassadors, a 10 member student recruitment team, and working with and for the thousands of COA alumni living all over the world. While working in the COA, Sefton served externally as the Illinois FFA Alumni Secretary and was co-creator and director of the Annual Southern Illinois Cooperative Youth Conference sponsored by the Illinois Cooperative Council and held each summer on the SIUC campus. 

As  her husband’s career moved her family around the nation, Dr. Sefton worked at Owens Community College outside Toledo, OH, Lancaster Bible College in Lancaster, PA, and Howard Community College in Columbia, MD, before coming to the UMD College Park campus. During her career, Dr. Sefton has taught Human Communication, Interpersonal Communication, Public Speaking, Advanced Public Speaking, Oral Communication, Agricultural Communication, and Introduction to the Humanities.