Gerald J. Alred is Professor Emeritus of English at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where he teaches courses in the Professional Writing Program. He is the author of numerous scholarly articles and several standard bibliographies on business and technical communication, and is a founding member of the editorial board of the Journal of Business and Technical Communication. He is a recipient of the prestigious Jay R. Gould Award for "profound scholarly and textbook contributions to the teaching of business and technical writing."