Tammy R. Vigil

Tammy R. Vigil, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Communication at Boston University where she researches US presidential campaigns, presidential spouses, and public address. Dr. Vigil’s books include US Political Ritual and the Covid Pandemic: The 2020 Democratic and Republican Conventions (Lexington Books, 2025), Moms in Chief: The Rhetoric of Republican Motherhood and the Spouses of Presidential Nominees, 1992-2016 (University Press of Kansas, 2019), Melania & Michelle: First Ladies in a New Era (Red Lightning Books, 2019), and Connecting with Constituents: Identification Building and Blocking in Contemporary National Convention Addresses (Lexington Books, 2015). She also co-authored The Third Agenda in U.S. Presidential Debates: Debate Watch and Citizen Reactions, 1996-2004 (Praeger, 2009). Dr. Vigil has published journal articles and book chapters on Michelle Obama, Melania Trump, Franklin D. Roosevelt, George W. Bush, national nominating conventions and the importance of first ladies in their husbands’ administrations. She has served as an expert source for stories in several news outlets including the Associate Press, Guardian, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, CNN, CNBC, and NPR and was formerly the senior associate dean of the College of Communication at Boston University and is a past winner of the Wrange-Baskerville award given annually by the Public Address Division of the National Communication Association.