Citation for
Daniel Riordan
Elevated to ATTW Fellow, March 2004
(written by Elizabeth Tebeaux)
The Fellows of the Association of Teachers of Technical Writing are pleased to receive Dan Riordan as our new Fellow.
Dr. Riordan is a professor of English at the University of Wisconsin-Stout in Menomonie, Wisconsin. Like many of the ATTW Fellows, he entered technical writing through a background in literature. Dan holds his Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina in American Literature. During his career, Dan has created and taught a wide variety of both literature and technical communication courses. At UW-Stout he has served in numerous positions, including chair of the English Department from 1973 to 1977 and Director of the Teaching and Learning Center from 2001 to the present. The ninth edition of his textbook, Technical Report Writing Today will be published in 2004.
He was awarded the 2000 NCTE Award for Best Collection of Essays in Technical or Scientific Communication for a special issue of Technical Communication Quarterly on the technical writing service course (Summer 1999). In 2002 the Council for Technical and Scientific Communication awarded him its Distinguished Service Award, given for career achievement in service to the profession. In 2003 the Society for Technical Communication awarded him the Jay R. Gould Award for excellence in teaching. Riordan has served as the President of CPTSC and was the Program Chair for the 2004 conference of the Association of Teachers of Technical Writing.
Dan Riordan has contributed steadily to ATTW, serving as At-Large Member of the Executive Committee, and Chair of the Teaching Committee. He has held four major leadership positions with CPTSC. In short, his entire career is a paradigm of exemplary service to technical communication. His sustained commitment to technical communication exemplifies the qualities the ATTW Fellows seek to honor and affirm.