Canada’s journalism and communications academic community has lost a distinguished scholar. Paul Attallah, a former associate director of Carleton University’s School of Journalism and Communication, has died.

Attallah, 54, served as the school’s associate director  from 1991 to 2005 and also a former president of the Canadian Communication Association. He wrote two volumes of Théories de la Communication  and served as co-editor of Mediascapes: New Patterns in Canadian Communication, as well as of numerous book chapters, essays, reports, and articles. He held a PhD in Communications from McGill University and taught at Université de Montréal and Université du Québec before joining Carleton University 20 years ago.

He died in hospital on Friday, Jan. 9. A memorial mass will be celebrated on Thursday, Jan. 15 at 2 p.m.