Dr. Robert Martin Shuter (July 14, 1946 New York - May 4, 2021 Chicago) was an American author, academic, and consultant specializing in intercultural communication.

[3] He helped bolster the department's reputation through several key methods, including recruitment of outstanding scholars, improvement of the curriculum, and expansion of the graduate program.

In the 1970s and 1980s, Shuter established an international reputation as an expert in nonverbal communication and culture, particularly in the ways proxemics, tactility, and gesticulation function in different countries.

To enhance his research, he interacted with the cultures at the heart of his investigations, traveling extensively throughout Europe, East Asia, and Latin America.

[20] This research was later featured in the Chicago Tribune[21] and highlighted in the National Communication Association’s Comm365 Project, a publication which commemorated the 100th anniversary of the NCA.

[26] Shuter was selected in 2013 by the National Endowment for the Humanities to serve as grants panel reviewer for the social science program of the research division.

He worked with students, faculty, and administrators to familiarize them with intercultural new media studies and integrate it into their curriculum and research agendas.

[9][32] Throughout the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, Shuter also provided customized consultations on multinational organizational communication issues to international corporations throughout Asia, Europe, and the United States, including Asea Brown Boveri, Atlas Copco, Danfoss, Novo Nordisk, Siemens, and Tetra Pak.

[34] From 1979 to 1980 Shuter directed, wrote, produced, and hosted the Shuter-Herzberg Edition, a live weekly prime time show on WMUR-PBS in Milwaukee that focused on cross-cultural communication issues.

[9] Shuter wrote, produced, directed, and conducted on-camera interviews for Life or Death?,[38] a half-hour documentary on health communication that aired on the Milwaukee NBC affiliate in 1980.

[44] Shuter's work and expertise have been cited in a number of popular publications in the United States including Psychology Today,[9] Working Woman,[45] Milwaukee Journal Sentinel,[46] Milwaukee Magazine,[9] Too Much,[47] Chicago Tribune,[21] and Chicago Sun-Times,[48] as well as in European publications such as Berlingske Tidende (Denmark),[9] Veckans Affarer (Sweden),[49] and DN.Arbete & Pengar (Sweden).