Maggie Pitts PhD, Penn State, 2005) is Associate Professor in the Department of Communication and Associate Dean at the Graduate College at the University of Arizona. She is also Immediate Past President of the International Association of Language and Social Psychology 2018-2022) Her program of research centers on the types of everyday talk people use to manage transitions across the life course such as health decision-making, end-of-life and later life conversations, retirement, international sojourning, etc. Transitions offer a rich context for the study of interpersonal communication, as it is during these times that people often become acutely aware of the importance of “talk” and a shifting sense of self. Maggie specializes in qualitative research methods including observation, interviewing, and focus groups. Her research is published in Communication Monographs, Journal of Social Issues, Journal of Language and Social Psychology, Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, Language and Communication, Journal of Applied Communication Research, Health Communication, Communication and Medicine, International Journal of Intercultural Relations, Journal of International and Intercultural Communication, Qualitative Health Research, The Qualitative Report, and Qualitative Research. Maggie takes a “bright side” approach to the study of human communication asking questions like, what is going right" and how can we make good things even better? Toward this end, she has co-edited two volumes on positive communication the first of their kind to harness and provide focus for a movement in Positive Communication The Positive Side of Interpersonal Communication Socha Pitts, Eds. 2012) and Positive Communication in Health and Wellness Pitts Socha, Eds. 2013) With her graduate students, she is actively pursuing a line of research examining Communication Savoring as a positive communication construct and is developing the Grounded Model of Communication Savoring. She teaches undergraduate courses in communication theory, interpersonal communication, and intercultural communication at the University of Arizona. She gives graduate seminars in qualitative research methods, interpersonal communication theory, theories of intercultural communication, and health communication.