Draft:Alan B. Albarran



Dr. Alan B. Albarran (born 1954) is an American scholar who has published extensively in the fields of media management, media economics, and Spanish language media. He is the only scholar to serve as the Editor of both the Journal of Media Economics (1996-2005) and the International Journal on Media Management, both published by Taylor & Francis, a division of Routledge.

A native of Huntington, West Virginia, Albarran received the Ph.D. in telecommunications (1990) from The Ohio State University and his M.A. (1978) and B.A (1976) from Marshall University in communication/broadcasting. He worked in broadcasting for several years from 1974-1981 at several radio and television stations in West Virginia, Kentucky, and Texas as an on-air personality, and news and sports reporter.

After graduating from Marshall University in 1978, Albarran served as Director of the Broadcast Technology program at the Raleigh Country Vocational-Technical Center in Beckley WV for one year. In 1979, Albarran began his tenure in the Department of Radio, Television and Film at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, TX, where in addition to teaching he was named General Manger of KSHU-FM. He and his family moved to Ohio in 1987 so he could pursue his doctoral studies.

Albarran graduated from Ohio State in 1990, and accepted an appointment as an Assistant Professor in Communication at the Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University. During his tenure at SMU Albarran served as a Director of Graduate Studies, Academic Director of the Center for Communication Arts, and Associate Dean for Research and Technology, Albarran joined the University of North Texas in 2000 as Chair of the Department of Radio, Television and Film, later renamed the Department of Media Arts. At UNT, Albarran received grants of $1.25 million to establish the Center for Spanish Language Media in 2005, a unit devoted to teaching, research and professional development. He retired from UNT in 2018, and was named Professor Emeritus in 2019.

As a scholar, Albarran has published an extensive array of books, articles for scholarly journals, and contributions to edited volumes. He has authored/edited 17 books, including The Media Economy, Management of Digital and Electronic Media, The Handbook of Media Management and Economics, A Research Agenda for Media Economics, The Social Media Industries, The Handbook of Spanish Language Media, The Transformation of the Media and Communication Industries, and Time and Media Markets among other titles.

Albarran has given lectures and workshops in many countries in Europe, Asia, and South America. He has served as a visiting professor at the University of Navarra in Pamplona, Spain; the School of Communication, Universidad Panamericana in Guadalajara, Mexico; the Adenauer Center for Journalism, Ateneo de Manila University, Manila, Philippines; the Shanghai Jai Tong University, Shanghai, China; and the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland. Albarran is the recipient of numerous honors and awards including the Journal of Media Economics Award of Honor (2008), Distinguished Scholar Award by the Broadcast Education Association (2009), the Texas Association of Broadcasters Educator of the Year Award (2022), and a Fulbright Senior Specialist Award (2006).

Albarran enjoys an active retirement where he continues writing and researching the management and economics of the communication industries. He keeps busy with several hobbies: playing pickleball, oil painting, playing his guitars, reading and travel. He and his wife Beverly Miller Albarran are parents of two daughters and grandparents to five grandchildren, affectionately known as the "Fab Five."