Faculty Profile: Tamyra Pierce

It was not until a serious case of turbulence that Tamyra Pierce realized she was destined for the field of Mass Communication and Journalism.

          Before teaching at the college level, Pierce was a flight attendant and flight service manager for 10 years for Trans World Airlines. “In the accident, I left the floor and hit my head on the ceiling and then landed on top of the back row of seats,” Pierce said. She injured her neck and back and after six months of rehabilitation she was instructed by the airline to return to work because her workman’s compensation was up.

          “At that time I couldn’t lift a gallon of milk with my left hand, so I obviously would not be able to open a door if we had an evacuation, so, I retired,” Pierce said. She said she still has to see a chiropractor on a regular basis.

          “It was a blessing in disguise,” Pierce said, referring to the accident. She had already completed her bachelor’s degree in Electronic Media (after changing her major three times) at Southwest Missouri State University. Because of this, she decided to return there to earn her master’s degree in the same subject.

After completion of her master’s, Pierce stayed another year at Southwest Missouri State to teach. “I fell in love with it,” she said.

          She then attended the University of Missouri at Columbia to earn her PhD in Communications and ended up teaching there for four years. She recently moved to Fresno when offered a job at Fresno State and living closer to family sealed the deal for her.

          Pierce is in her third year as a professor at Fresno State. She is the Graduate Director and instructs undergraduate and graduate courses in the field of Mass Communication and Journalism.

          “I love the students,” Pierce said. “When the light bulbs go off it makes me feel really good. The students make my job.”

          Pierce said she researches how media affects publics. “I love doing research about our field, either positive or negative,” Pierce said. “I am the person who looks at what the effects are of our field.”

          She has researched such topics as violence in video games and its affect on children and the coverage of school shootings and whether or not it prompts others to copy such acts.

Pierce said she hopes she influences some of her students to pursue a career in her field or in any area of mass communication. At Southwest Missouri State, Pierce said she was the Internship Coordinator and that internships are the best way to break into the field. “I think it’s the best thing a student can do,” she said. She said it is also important to take advantage of college campus and department opportunities.