Deborah A. Cai

Associate Professor, Department of Communication, University of Maryland

Skinner 2110
College Park, MD 20742-7635
E-mail:
Phone: 301-405-6524

Deborah A. Cai (Ph.D., Michigan State University, 1994) is Associate Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Maryland. As an international researcher with ties to China, her scholarly expertise is in intercultural communication, persuasion, and negotiation and conflict management, with particular interest in international negotiation as a specific context of persuasive activity within organizations. Her current research focuses on the way people from different cultures emphasize different cognitive processes and the effect such differences may have on decision-making. In the past, her research has included studies on cultural differences in negotiation plans, enactment of face-management strategies, and the mediating effects of role on culture in business negotiation. Her research has been presented at national and international conferences and is published in the field's premier journals and serials, including Communication Monographs, Communication Yearbook, Human Communication Research, Journal of Applied Communication, and Progress in Communication Research.