Denis McQuail

Denis McQuail (12 April 1935, London – 25 June 2017) was a British communication theorist, Emeritus Professor at the University of Amsterdam, considered one of the most influential scholars in the field of mass communication studies.

Biography Denis McQuail was born in Wallington, London on 12 April 1935 to Irish immigrant parents Annie (née Mullan) and Christopher McQuail. After schooling at St Anselm's college in Birkenhead, he spent his national service in the Intelligence Corps learning Russian and studied history at Corpus Christi College, Oxford.

McQuail started his academic career in the UK. On 1 August 1977, he was appointed Professor at the University of Amsterdam, where on 6 November 1978 he spoke the inaugural lecture, entitled "The historicity of a science of mass media: time, place, circumstances and the effects of mass communication."

The Amsterdam School of Communication Research (ASCoR) established the Denis McQuail Award in his honour which is awarded each year to the best article advancing communication theory since 2006.

Selected publications McQuail, Denis: Sociology of Mass Communications. Selected Readings, 1972 McQuail, Denis: Media Performance: Mass Communication and the Public Interest, Sage: London, 1992 McQuail, Denis and Windahl, Sven: Communication Models for the Study of Mass Communications 1994 (2nd Edition) McQuail, Denis and Karen Siune for the Euromedia Research Group (eds.): Media Policy: Convergence, Concentration and Commerce, Sage: London, 1998 McQuail, Denis (ed.): McQuail's Reader in Mass Communication Theory, Sage: London, 2002 McQuail, Denis: McQuail's Mass Communication Theory, 2010 (sixth edition)