Marie Hardin, an associate professor and associate dean for graduate studies and research in the College of Communications, has been selected as the new director of the Arthur W. Page Center for Integrity in Public Communication. Her appointment is effective Sept. 1, 2010; she succeeds John S. Nichols, who is retiring.
“Dr. Hardin’s research into journalism ethics and her broad administrative experience make her an ideal leader for the Arthur W. Page Center,” said Lawrence G. Foster, chair of the Center’s advisory bard. “She will advance the fine work done by John Nichols, who has guided the Center to a point where it is one of the leading research units of its kind in the nation.”
Founded in 2004, the Page Center is dedicated to the study and development of ethics and responsibility in corporate communication and other forms of public communication. The Center has awarded grants totaling more than $336,000 to researchers from all over the country. Some of the topics they have addressed include environmental communications, company codes of ethics, the principles of PR professionals, apologies by business firms and ethical issues in fields such as journalism, crisis communications, children and media, decision making, health care, marketing, nonprofits and sports.
Hardin, a scholar of social attitudes and values in journalism, is one of the nation’s leading scholars of sports journalism. She serves as the associate director for research at the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism at Penn State.
She is author of more than 70 research articles, book chapters and reports and is recognized for her work in the classroom as well. In 2009 she earned Penn State’s George W. Atherton Award for Excellence in Teaching. She was a 2010 finalist for the Scripps-Howard Foundation Journalism and Mass Communication Teacher of the Year.
Nationally, Hardin serves on the President’s Advisory Council for the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. She will chair its Professional Freedom and Responsibility Committee next year.
Hardin said she is excited about becoming involved with the Page Center.
“It has an experienced, engaged advisory board and strong programming. It also supports innovative and important research,” said Hardin. “I’ll be looking for ways to help the Center continue to grow its outstanding reputation.”
The Arthur W. Page Center was created by three senior executives: Edward M. Block, retired senior vice president for AT&T; Lawrence G. Foster, retired corporate vice president for Johnson & Johnson; and John A. Koten, retired senior vice president for Ameritech.
Foster made a leadership gift to establish the Center. The Johnson family foundations and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation also have given significant support. Other contributions have come from former colleagues of Robert Wood Johnson and from the AT&T Foundation on behalf of Arthur W. Page.
The Center is named for the man who is considered the world’s pioneer in corporate public relations. Arthur W. Page joined AT&T in 1924 and became widely known for setting high standards for ethical communication. The legacy of Robert Wood Johnson also is a vital part of the Page Center. Like Page, Johnson was a strong and visible advocate of responsible corporate behavior. Recipients of Page Center grants are known as Page/Johnson Legacy Scholars.
In addition to research, the Center features an oral history collection of two dozen prominent people from the corporate communications field. The Center’s website also features the Page Press Center, a database for journalists to find experts on topics in the field of integrity in public communication.