Dr. Holly Overton is an associate professor in the department of advertising/public relations and the director of research for the Arthur W. Page Center for Integrity in Public Communication in the Bellisario College of Communications at The Pennsylvania State University. She is also an affiliate with the Center for Socially Responsible Artificial Intelligence at Penn State. Before joining the faculty in the Bellisario College, Dr. Overton held a tenured position as an associate professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of South Carolina and a tenure-track position in the department of communication/journalism at Shippensburg University. Shebrings more than five years of practical experience to her teaching, including positions in corporate marketing, higher education, and the nonprofit sector.

Dr. Overton conducts public relations research in the areas of corporate social responsibility communication and corporate social advocacy. She has published more than 30 peer-reviewed journal articles in top public relations and mass communications journals and has presented more than 50 conference papers at national and international conferences where she has won numerous top paper awards. Dr. Overton’s research grant awards include a grant from the Glen M. Broom Center for Development in Public Relations and several Arthur W. Page Center Legacy Scholar Grants. In 2019 she was named Educator of the Year by the South Carolina Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA). In 2023, she received the Deans’ Excellence Award for Integrated Scholarship from the Bellisario College at Penn State and has won several other teaching and mentorship awards.

Dr. Overton currently serves as Immediate Past Head of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) Public Relations Division. She also serves on various editorial boards such as the Journal of Public Relations Research, Journal of Communication Management, and Case Studies in Strategic Communication, as well as the Advisory Committee of the International Public Relations Research Conference. She is a member of the Arthur W. Page Society (Page), a prestigious association of leaders and experts in corporate communications.