Deborah J. Barrett is professor of the Practice of Professional Communication and director of the Program for Communication Excellence at Rice University.

Deborah has taught communication for over 25 years, specializing in professional communication for the last 20 years. At Texas A&M University, she was a visiting assistant professor in technical writing; at Houston Baptist University, she was an associate professor in English and director of the writing specialization and English internship programs; and at Rice University, she was a lecturer of M.B.A. communication at the Jones Graduate School of Management from 1988 to 1991 and from 1998 to 2006.

Deborah's leadership approach to communication has developed over many years of teaching but has also been influenced by her years as a consultant working independently and for McKinsey & Company and Hill & Knowlton. At McKinsey & Company, she was a communication consultant for over five years. She served as a leader in the change communication practice, developed and conducted firm training, and led and worked with McKinsey teams on communication and general management consulting projects throughout the world. She was one of the few communication consultants firmwide selected to attend McKinsey's Engagement Leadership Training, its advanced leadership training for senior associates. At Hill & Knowlton, Deborah was a senior managing director, brought in to build a change management practice.

In her consulting work, she has been able to put her academic experience and leadership communication concepts to the test. Her consulting work includes developing major change programs, designing and conducting vision/strategy development programs, writing strategic plans, creating communication strategy for mergers and acquisitions, and developing internal communication improvement programs. She has coached many senior-level executives, including CEOs of major corporations, in writing, speaking, and interpersonal skills and has conducted numerous workshops for leaders at all levels.

Deborah has published articles in professional journals and presented papers at professional conferences around the world on communication ethics, change communication, employee communication, cross-cultural communication, virtual teams, PowerPoint, effective M.B.A. communication, emotional intelligence, and leadership communication. She serves on the editorial boards of the Business Communication Quarterly, Education Review of Business Communication Corporate Communication: An International Journal, and International Journal of Knowledge, Culture, and Change Management.

Her B.A. in English and speech and her M.A. in English are from the University of Houston, and her Ph.D. in English is from Rice University.