Bortree Named Director of Arthur W. Page Center for Integrity in Public Communication

UNIVERSITY PARK, PA – Denise Sevick Bortree, whose research focuses on corporate social responsibility and sustainability communication, has been selected as the new director of the Arthur W. Page Center for Integrity in Public Communication at Penn State University.

Her appointment is effective August 1, 2014. She succeeds Marie Hardin, recently named as dean of the College of Communications at Penn State. Dr. Hardin will retain the post of chair of the Page Center’s Advisory Board.

“As a senior research fellow with the Page Center, Dr. Bortree brings to her new position a deep involvement with and understanding of its research mission,” said Hardin. “A first-rate scholar, Dr. Bortree is well-positioned to lead The Page Center, which has become a leading research unit focusing on ethics in public communication.”

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 half a million dollars to researchers from all over the world. Some of the topics they have addressed include corporate social responsibility, environmental communication, company codes of ethics, the principles of PR professionals, apologies by business firms, and ethical issues in journalism, crisis communications and social media.

Bortree is well known for her scholarship on corporate social responsibility, non-profit organization communications, social media, and sustainability issues. She has co-edited two books: Talking Green, Exploring Contemporary Issues in Environmental Communications (2012) and Ethical Practice of Social Media in Public Relations (2014). She has authored more than 25 peer-reviewed journal articles. In 2010, she received the Dean’s Excellence Award for Research and Creative Accomplishments from Penn State’s College of Communications. In 2013, she was selected to participate in the Scripps-Howard Leadership Academy. She is the incoming chair of the Public Relations Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC), a leading international organization.

An associate professor in the Department of Advertising/Public Relations at Penn State, Bortree brought to academe more than ten years of practical experience including positions as communications manager, public relations manager and marketing manager for a number of organizations. She earned two master’s degrees, in mass communications and educational psychology, from the University of Florida, and her Ph.D. from Florida in mass communications. Her undergraduate degree is from Geneva College in Beaver Falls, PA.

Bortree is enthusiastic about her new leadership position.

“I am honored to be taking on this new role at the Page Center,” she said. “Over the past decade, the Center has distinguished itself as a leader in professionally focused research on ethics in public communication, and I look forward to continuing to build its engagement with communications professionals and academics.”

The Arthur W. Page Center was created ten years ago by three senior executives: Edward M. Block, retired senior vice president for AT&T, the late Lawrence G. Foster, retired corporate vice president for Johnson & Johnson, and the late John A. Koten, retired senior vice president for Ameritech. Foster made a significant leadership gift to establish the Center and served for years as chair of its Advisory Board before his death in 2013. The Johnson family foundations and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation also have given substantial 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 as a vice president 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 prominent people from the corporate communications and journalism fields. The website is http://thepagecenter.comm.psu.edu/.

For more information contact Elaine Files, coordinator of research administration, College of Communications, Penn State University, at efs2@psu.edu or 814-863-6307.