DESIGN INNOVATIONSEGAL DESIGN INSTITUTE
at the McCORMICK SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING

About

Dr. Laura Pigozzi joins the faculty of the Cook Family Writing Program in the fall 2022 as Assistant Professor. She teaches English 282 (Writing and Speaking in Business), ENG 305 (Science, Medical, and Health Writing), DSGN 106 (Design Thinking and Communication) and Business Communication in various professional masters programs. She holds a PhD in Rhetoric and Scientific & Technical Communication with a doctoral minor in Bioethics from the University of Minnesota. She is trained as a mechanical engineer, with a BS in Mechanical Engineering with a Bioengineering Option from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. Additionally, Dr. Pigozzi holds Affiliate Faculty status, Center for Community Health Equity, DePaul University/Rush University.

Dr. Pigozzi’s research stands at the intersection of the rhetoric of health and medicine, technical and professional communication, intercultural communication, and immigrant health. The focus of this work is the well-being of those in the immigrant Latinx community with the goal of improving lives and health. Her work incorporates rhetorical, quantitative, and qualitative analyses to build explanatory, interdisciplinary theories to contribute to this understudied area. Additionally, this work informs a broader understanding of how intercultural and technical communication function and how these fields can work toward social justice. 

Publication Highlights:

Pigozzi, L. M. (2025). The future of multilingualism, culture, and ethics. In Derek G. Ross (Ed), The Routledge handbook of ethics in technical and professional communication. Routledge.

Pigozzi, L., Brown, O., Brichacek, K (2023). Supporting empathy engagement throughout the design thinking process. 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition proceeding papers.

Pigozzi, L. M. (2022). Nuestra vida en el medio oeste, USA (Our life in the Midwest, USA): Listening to Mexican Immigrants. In N. Small & B. Longo (Eds.), Transnational research in technical communication: Realities and reflections. Albany, NY: Suny Press

Pigozzi, L. M. (2020) Caring for and understanding Latinx patients in health care settings. London, England: Jessica Kingsley Publishers, Ltd.

Pigozzi, L. M. (2018) Negotiating informed consent project: Bueno aconsejar, major remediar (It is good to give advice, but it is better to solve the problem). L. Meloncon & B. Scott (Eds.), Methodologies for the Rhetoric of Health & Medicine (pp 195-213).