Nichelle McNabb

Professor
Department of Communication

Dr. Nichelle McNabb is interested in political communication, communication in education and the perception of educators, and academic debates. She is a professor of communication; teaching Persuasion, Communicating with Audiences, Intercultural Communication, Rhetorical Theory, Fake News and Political Conspiracy Theories, and a Freshman Year Seminar on the presidential election once every four years. Dr. McNabb contributes to Otterbein outside the classroom as well. She serves on the General Education committee and the Common Book committee. She is also an equity advisor for departments that are conducting employee searches, and in 2022 she worked with the RISE program.

Dr. McNabb has extensive experience coaching debate. Before coming to Otterbein, she was a coach at Central Michigan University, Wayne State University, and The University of Nebraska-Lincoln. In 2001 at the University of Nebraska, Dr. McNabb coached a National Forensic Association semi-finalist. In her 12 years of coaching debate at Otterbein (2003-2015), fourteen students qualified for competition at the National Forensic Association’s National Tournament (some of them qualified multiple years) and five students debated in the elimination rounds of that tournament. One of her students, Margaret Parson, was a semi-finalist at the 2014 Forensic Association’s National Tournament and she won the 2015 Pi Kappa Delta National Championship.