[Extremely sad news for the presence community and all who knew our friend and colleague Paul Skalski. An obituary jointly written by members of the Cleveland State University School of Communication faculty is below. An obituary from the Cleveland Plain Dealer is here; information about a memorial fund in Paul’s name is here; Paul’s Facebook page (which contains many photos and remembrances) is here; and a video tribute to Paul is available on YouTube here.]

Paul D. Skaski 

Dr. Paul D. Skalski, Associate Professor in the School of Communication at Cleveland State University, died May 20, 2013, following a heart attack seven weeks earlier.

Dr. Skalski had quickly established himself as one of the foremost media and technology scholars, focusing many of his efforts on the impacts of video games and presence. His vitae shows contributions to many other streams of research, from media effects to audience analysis to humor in the mass media. He was the author or coauthor of 35 journal articles and book chapters, as well as nine published conference proceedings, 13 encyclopedia entries, and more than 70 conference papers and presentations. He was co-editor of the 2010 book, Immersed in Media: Telepresence in Everyday Life (Routledge), with Dr. Cheryl Campanella Bracken.

Dr. Skalski received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Cleveland State University, where he was advised by Drs. Leo Jeffres, David Atkin, and Kim Neuendorf. He went on to receive his doctorate in communication in 2004 from Michigan State University, where his advisor was Dr. Ron Tamborini. Dr. Skalski taught at the University of Minnesota Duluth for three years before returning to become a member of the CSU faculty in 2007. He received tenure in 2011.

He is survived by his mother, Sheila Kus, his fiancé, Lori Kahoe, sister Lesley Lavalais-Jacobs, and members of the Cerba, Fish, Shorb and Nemeth families of Cleveland. He is also survived by his CSU family, and by his friends and colleagues at Michigan State and at Duluth.

“Paul was a valued friend, colleague, confidant, mentor to graduate students, and positive spirit to all those he touched. He will be missed greatly,” said the director of the School of Communication at Cleveland State, Dr. George Ray.

Memorial services are to be held on Saturday, May 25, 2013. Visitation is from 12 noon to 3 p.m. at Sunset Memorial Park Chapel, 6245 Columbia Road, North Olmsted, Ohio, 44070.A funeral service will follow at 3 p.m. at the memorial park.

The family suggests that memorial contributions may be made to Hospice of the Western Reserve, 17876 St. Clair Ave., Cleveland, OH 44119.