Edith Marjorie Harrod Award

Edith served as President of the Illinois Speech Association in 1966, and was a member of the Illinois Board of Education for five years. She taught Drama and English at Eureka High School from 1943 to 1951. She taught Drama at Pekin Community High School from 1951 to 1971. She was an Associate Professor of Creative Arts at Illinois Central College where she taught Speech and Drama until her death in 1976. At Illinois Central College she created an interdisciplinary course in the humanities including art, drama, music and philosophy. She received her B.A. degree from Eureka College in 1943, and her M.A. degree from the University of Iowa in 1949. She completed additional graduate study at Northwestern University in Evanston and the University of Minnesota. In 1961, she was awarded the John Hay Fellowship in Humanities. She attended symposia on theater at Stratford, Ontario, Canada, in 1965, 1966 and 1968, studying with Tyrone Guthrie, who helped establish the Shakespeare Festival there, and who founded the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. She was director of Broadway Theater League and Cornstock Theater. She directed plays for Cornstock Theater and at Illinois Central College directed Readers' Theater and Plays for Living. The Harrod award is in recognition of distinguished service to the Association and outstanding achievement in the profession.

2024 Edith Marjorie Harrod Award Winner

Dana Trunnell-  Prairie State College

Dana Trunnell has been teaching in the Communication discipline for 20 years at several institutions in both Illinois and Arizona. Currently, she is beginning her ninth year at Prairie State College in Chicago Heights, Illinois. Prior to her tenure at Prairie State, Dana earned undergraduate degrees at Illinois State University in Mass Communication (Journalism) and English (Literature) in 2000. She earned her Master’s in Communication in 2002, also at ISU. She has coached college and high school speech teams in both Illinois and Arizona since 1995. At Prairie State, Dana is the Communication Coordinator and serves as Coordinator for the Center for Teaching and Learning. Along with Professor Joshua Green, she is also a Co-Director of the Prairie State Speech Team and the Prairie State College Summer Speech Camp for high school students. Dana is the Region IV Governor in the Phi Rho Pi organization and was awarded the 2024 Phi Rho Pi Service Award. Her teaching interests include the Basic Course, Intercultural Communication, Mass Communication, and Interpersonal Communication. Dana has remained involved with high school forensics, as well, and is a proud judge during the State Series each February. Within ICTA, Dana has served in many roles and on many committees including as a Past President and as the Higher Education Chair.

Outside of her professional life, Dana can be found reading a very diverse array of books, watching Cardinals baseball games, and finding amazing places to drink a glass of wine around the world. Family is super important to her. Dana is the proud “Auntie D” to ten nieces and nephews and, as such, has become an avid fan of Heyworth Junior High and High School sports, St. Norbert College Swimming, and UIC Swimming.