Biography

Kathy R. Fitzpatrick joined the Nicholson School of Communication and Media (NSCM) as director and professor in August 2026. She formerly served as director and professor of the Zimmerman School of Advertising & Mass Communications at the University of South Florida, professor and senior associate dean for academic affairs in the School of Communication at American University, and associate dean of graduate programs and research in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Florida International University. She is a former research fellow in the Center on Public Diplomacy in the Annenberg School at the University of Southern California, where she currently serves as a faculty fellow.

Fitzpatrick is an internationally recognized scholar in public relations and public diplomacy who has received numerous awards for her research, including the 2021 Distinguished Scholar Award from the International Studies Association Diplomatic Studies Division and the 2020 AEJMC Research Prize for Professional Relevance from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. Her research has appeared in top journals in communication and diplomacy, and she is the co-editor of Diplomacy’s Public Turn: Prospects for Theory and Practice (Palgrave Pivot, 2026), author of The Future of U.S. Public Diplomacy: An Uncertain Fate (2010) and co-editor of Ethics in Public Relations: Responsible Advocacy (2006). She was the co-founder of the Palgrave Macmillan Book Series on Global Public Diplomacy for which she served as co-editor from 2009-2026. She currently serves on the editorial boards of Journal of Public Relations Research, Journal of Communication Management and Journal of Mass Media Ethics.

Fitzpatrick is a member of the Arthur W. Page Society, former head of the Educators Academy of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and former president of the PRSA Dallas Chapter. She was a member of the task force that developed the PRSA Code of Ethics, which remains the industry standard, and serves on the Advisory Board of the Diplomatic Studies Division of the International Studies Association.

EDUCATION

• Juris Doctor (JD), Southern Methodist University
• Master of Science in Journalism (MS), West Virginia University
• Bachelor of Science in Journalism (BS), West Virginia University