Scholar of the Month
Danielle Sarver Coombs
Associate Professor
College of Communication and Information
2007-present
Danielle Sarver Coombs is an associate professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the College of Communication and Information. Her research focuses on sports, politics and the politics of sport.
Coombs’ sports-related research has focused primarily on the two forms of football: the American National Football League and Britain’s Premier League Football (soccer). Most recently, Coombs partnered with Anne Cunningham Osborne of Syracuse University to publish Female Fans of the NFL: Taking Their Place in the Stands (Routledge, 2016). Coombs’ expertise in this area has led to media and public appearances across the United States and the United Kingdom, ranging from Texas public radio to the BBC.
In addition to football, Coombs studies electoral politics, specifically in relation to media framing. Her book Last Man Standing: Media, Framing, and the 2012 Republican Primaries (Rowman & Littlefield, 2015) examines the media frames that emerged to characterize Republican candidates in 2012.
She has multiple peer-reviewed articles in publications such as the International Journal of Sport Communication and the Journal of Public Relations Research. She also serves as a reviewer for Communication Studies, Journal of Sports Media, Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly and Mass Communication and Society.
Prior to joining Kent State, Coombs headed her own research and consumer insights company. She also conducted research in consumer packaged goods, media and fashion for Insight Research Group in New York City, and was director of Election Research for Edison Media Research, the firm hired to rebuild exit polling for the 2004 national primaries.
Coombs received a Ph.D. in Mass Communication and Public Affairs from Louisiana State University. She earned both a Master of Arts in International Mass Communication and a Bachelor of Science in Communication degree in Media Studies from Ohio University.
About Kent State’s Scholar of the Month
Kent State’s Scholar of the Month recognizes faculty researchers and scholars whose recent work has had an important impact on their professional fields and has brought exposure to the university. Each month, a different college will have the opportunity to nominate a researcher/scholar for this recognition. There is also a month when a faculty member from the Regional Campuses will be featured.
The selection process is in the hands of the dean and his or her colleagues and faculty. Hence, this is recognition by the person’s college colleagues that is then taken up by the university. The deans communicate the person’s name to the Division of Research and Sponsored Programs for recognition as Scholar of the Month.