Richard L. Street, Jr. PhD, is Professor of Communication at Texas A&M University and Professor of Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. His research focuses on clinician-patient communication, pathways linking communication to improved health outcomes, and strategies for increasing patient engagement in care.

He has led advancements in modeling pathways through which clinician-patient communication processes contribute to improved health outcomes. In this research, he has employed a diverse set of methodological approaches to analyzing communication, including discourse analytic methods whereby the function and content of effective patient participation and shared-decision-making communication is captured. He has also using trained observers to analyze transcripts and audio-recording of medical consultations to rate the quality of patient-centered communication.

He has published over 200 articles and book chapters, as well as a number of books, monographs, and special issues of various journals. In 2003, he was named Outstanding Health Communication Scholar by the International Communication Association. In 2008, he received the L. Donohew Health Communication Scholar Award from the University of Kentucky. In 2010, he was awarded the Texas A&M Association of Former Students Distinguished Achievement in Research Award. In 2012, he was given the George L. Engel award by the Academy on Communication in Healthcare for career contributions to the research, practice, and teaching of effective healthcare communication skills.