Lisa Guntzviller is an associate professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Guntzviller has broad interests in interpersonal, family, and health communication, mainly with underserved populations (e.g., low-income, minority). Her research examines interpersonal communication situations in which identities are challenged and contested. Identity dilemmas arise when people need to accomplish a communication task and must fill a communication role that challenges a partner’s identity. For example, her research has included language brokering (when bilingual children translate and culturally mediate for a monolingual parent) and advice giving in close relationships. The tasks of language brokering and giving advice present inherent identity dilemmas; language brokering requires the child to speak for a parent while also respecting the parent’s authority, while giving advice suggests the other person has a problem and is not capable of handling it independently. Her research focuses on parent-child relationships, Spanish-speaking families, and discussions of health issues. Additionally, she has also published on patient-provider communication when the patient has communication difficulties (e.g., low English proficiency, low health literacy). Her research has often utilizes dyadic data and employs a multiple goals framework. Dr. Guntzviller is currently working on the ESSAMA research study, involving Latina mother and adolescent support, stress, and sleep: https://publish.illinois.edu/essamaresearch

Interpersonal Communication
Health Communication
Social Support

B.A., 2007, Communication & Mathematics, Aquinas College
M.A., 2009, Communication, Purdue University
Ph.D., 2013, Communication, Purdue University

2021 Dean's Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching. College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Illinois.

2019 Journal of Family Communication Article of the Year Award. Guntzviller, L. M., & Wang, N. (2019). Mother-adolescent communication in low-income, Latino families during language brokering: Examining the theory of resilience and relational load. Journal of Family Communication, 19(3), 228–242. https://doi.org/10.1080/15267431.2019.1628764

2019 Distinguished Promotion Award, Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Provost

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