photo by Connor Hochbein
Elaine Luther, Professor of Business Management, is the recipient of International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Pittsburgh Golden Triangle Awards. IABC’s 36th annual award recognizes excellence and creativity in business communication skills and management. Luther was honored at a dinner at Sheraton Station Square on Wed. Oct. 7, 2015.

After a career in business spanning several corporations over several decades, Point Park business professor Elaine Luther has been recognized by an organization made up of business professionals throughout the nation.

Luther has been named 2015’s Business Communicator of the Year by the Pittsburgh branch of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC), a worldwide organization made up of over 14,000 members, according to its website.

“I thought it was just a really nice recognition for me for doing things I do anyway, like I’m always reading the news and keeping up, which I think is what an M.B.A. in business should do,” Luther said. 

Luther was nominated for the award by KDKA’s political analyst Jon Delano, who Luther has corresponded with on several news stories for KDKA. She was also nominated by Point Park’s marketing and media relations department.

A representative from the department said that they nominated Luther because she is a go-to expert in business affairs and really showed her know-how in over 50 appearances with Jon Delano on KDKA. They also said she is special in that she is a great writer while simultaneously being a straight-up expert in her field.

Luther received her award at a ceremony held by IABC Pittsburgh, where the theme of the event was Mardi Gras.

“It was funny seeing everyone there wearing colorful masks,” Luther said.

Luther started her business career after obtaining a degree in psychology from the University of Pittsburgh. She then held business jobs with several corporate organizations, including Pepsi-Cola for several years, before beginning teaching classes in business, accounting and finance at Point Park about 20 years ago. 

In 2005, she obtained her doctorate degree in accounting from Robert Morris University, at the same time that she was teaching classes at Point Park.

She also recently dabbled in the world of small independent business, opening a shop called Look What I Found at Elaine’s about a year and a half ago, where she sold some of her personal belongings, such as her Halloween and Christmas decorations to clear out her storage unit.

“I kind of wanted to do it to see all the steps you have to go through to open your own small business,” Luther said, who said she is now in her last month of operating the business.

At Point Park, she continues to teach four to five classes each semester, including business communications, intro to business, human resources and seminar in HR this semester.

Nowadays, Luther said she reads multiple newspapers every day, which helps her keep current all the time. She continues to lend her expertise to news organizations, such as KDKA and the Pittsburgh Business Times.

“I don’t like doing the same thing every day, I always want to try something new and keep doing different things,” Luther said.