UNIVERSITY PARK — Dean Marie Hardin of the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications at Penn State was named as the 2024 Scripps Howard Administrator of the Year.
The award was announced this week in conjunction with the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC).
The Scripps Howard Journalism Awards, one of the nation’s most prestigious journalism competitions, honor work from television stations and networks, radio and podcasts, visual media, online media outlets, independent producers, newspapers and print publications. A panel of veteran journalists and media leaders selected the winners from nearly 600 entries across 12 categories.
Along with those awards for content, AEJMC and the Scripps Howard Fund recognize winners of two journalism education awards — one for a teacher and one for an administrator.
Hardin, who has led the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications since 2014 and has been a member of the Penn State faculty since 2003, will become president of Quinnipiac University beginning July 1.
Her efforts at Penn State were clearly award-worthy, according to AEJMC, a nonprofit, educational association of journalism and mass communication educators, students and media professionals, and the Scripps Howard Fund.
During the past year, journalism students have covered stories internationally and earned numerous awards themselves. In addition, Penn State faculty members consistently lead efforts to bolster journalism in the classroom and beyond through educational efforts and partnerships with professional news organizations in Pennsylvania and beyond.
Hardin consistently champions and supports student media efforts at the University. She was instrumental in the creation of the student media consortium (Penn State Student Media) and her visionary efforts have let to the creation of The News Lab at Penn State, which is housed in the Department of Journalism and facilitates partnerships between professional news organizations and student journalists — regularly collaborating on long-form and special projects.
Likewise, Hardin and the Bellisario College provided foundational support for the News Literacy Initiative at Penn State, which has provided educational and outreach efforts along with the launch of the timely “News Over Noise” podcast.
Plus, Bellisario College students have many opportunities to cover stories and create content, while partnerships with The Associated Press and the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism have led to students covering major international events like the Paralympics, the Little League World Series and the Women’s World Cup.
The Bellisario College includes the Bellisario Media Center, which became a reality as part of a 2017 rebranding of the college after Hardin helped secure a $30 million gift from 1961 Penn State alumnus Donald P. Bellisario. The University committed an additional $45 million in support of Hardin’s vision for the media center, which opened in 2020. The facility serves as a home for numerous student news organizations with state-of-the-art production facilities and studies, as well as the convenience of all-under-one-roof collaboration for faculty and students in all majors.
While leading the Bellisario College, the largest accredited mass communications program in the country, Hardin directed efforts that bolstered the program’s reputation for high-quality undergraduate and graduate education, broadened its impact in interdisciplinary research and expanded its outreach. Under Hardin’s leadership, the Bellisario College’s ongoing success has been the result of internationally renowned faculty and a highly collegial, collaborative culture fostered by employees and high-achieving, motivated students.
Hardin has served on numerous University-wide committees and led efforts that engage other colleges at Penn State, other institutions of higher learning, and private-sector partners. She has twice been elected to lead Penn State’s Academic Leadership Council, which represents all deans and chancellors across Pennsylvania. Hardin also was part of the committee that helped to redesign Penn State’s budget allocation model; led a committee that designed the University’s COVID-19 classroom response in 2020; and spearheaded the collective buy-in of units across the University to launch the Center for Immersive Experiences, which was named a signature initiative for Penn State in 2019.
Hardin served as AEJMC president in 2019. She chairs the committee for the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. She also is on the leadership board of the Alliance of Schools and Colleges of Communication and Journalism and is chair of the steering committee for the Hearst Journalism Awards Program.
Hardin arrived at Penn State in 2003 as an assistant professor. In 2007, she was promoted to associate professor. In 2009, she was one of four Penn State faculty recipients of the University-wide George W. Atherton Award for Excellence in Teaching. She also was appointed the Bellisario College's associate dean for administration. Hardin was promoted to associate dean for graduate studies and research in 2010. She was elevated to associate dean for undergraduate and graduate education in 2011. In 2012, she was promoted to professor. She also has held leadership roles in the Arthur W. Page Center for Integrity in Public Communication and the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism.
Hardin has taught graduate and undergraduate classes that examine the interplay of sports and society. As dean, she regularly taught a large-enrollment first-year class that focused on college success and career preparation. Before joining Penn State, she taught at Florida Southern College and the State University of West Georgia. She earned her doctoral degree in 1998 from the University of Georgia.