Honorees receive a Larry Foster Award for Integrity in Public Communication, which is given to trusted leaders who exhibit integrity in their life and work. To date, the Page Center has honored 24 renowned and respected communicators from several fields, including business, journalism, public relations and public service.
"In these times of rapid change and rampant disinformation, the Page Center Awards hold a heightened significance,” said Denise Bortree, Page Center director and associate dean at the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications at Penn State. “Honoring communicators like Ursula and Kelly, women who epitomize integrity, helps us navigate the challenges we face every day.”
Each year, hundreds have logged on to hear these distinguished groups of communicators. Past honorees include Dr. Anthony Fauci, NIAID director; Ken Chenault, former CEO of American Express; Christiane Amanpour, chief international anchor at CNN; Jon Iwata, former CMO of IBM; Eugene Robinson, Washington Post columnist and editor; Judy Woodruff, former anchor of PBS Newshour; and Andy Polansky, former CEO of IPG DXTRA. Visit the awards page for a full list of honorees.
Register here. Visit the event page to learn about this year’s honorees, sponsorship opportunities and student activities.
This will be the fourth awards event streamed online. What originated as a dinner in 2017, the Page Center Awards transitioned to the virtual format in 2020 due to COVID-19. Hosting the event online introduced the Page Center to a global audience. Most importantly, it offered a chance for the next generation of ethical leaders to attend. During the last three events, nearly half of the viewers were college students.
Meet the honorees
Ursula Burns
Ursula Burns has extensive international experience in leading large companies that are facing technology sea changes within their industries. Burns was the chairwoman of the board of Xerox Corporation from 2010 to 2017 and chief executive officer from 2009 to 2016. Burns is a founding partner of Integrum Holdings, a private equity firm, and a non-executive chairwoman of Teneo Holdings LLC. Former U.S. President Barack Obama appointed Burns to lead the White House national program on science, technology, engineering and math from 2009 to 2016, and Burns served as chair of the President’s Export Council from 2015 to 2016. Her memoir “Where You Are Is Not Who You Are” was published in June 2021.
Kelly McGinnis
As senior vice president and chief communications officer of Levi Strauss & Co., Kelly McGinnis is responsible for managing the global corporate affairs function at the 170-year-old apparel company. In this capacity, she oversees corporate media relations, executive, employee and stakeholder communications, government affairs, policy, advocacy and community affairs as well as the company’s employee hardship fund, the Red Tab Foundation. Previously, McGinnis was the vice president of global communications at Dell. Prior to joining Dell, she served as general manager of Fleishman-Hillard’s San Francisco office after working with the firm in various capacities in St. Louis and San Antonio.
About the Page Center Awards
Located in the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications at Penn State, the Arthur W. Page Center is a research center that advances integrity in all forms of public communication. It was founded by public relations legend Larry Foster, a Penn State alumnus and the namesake of the center’s integrity award.
The purpose of the Page Center Awards is to celebrate icons of ethics, integrity and truth in public communication. The event supports innovative research by Page Center scholars and educational opportunities for students studying in communication fields. The Center’s research projects aim to build the scholarly and public understanding of ethics in communication. To date, the center awarded more than $1 million in research funding to more than 300 scholars from around the world.
Areas of focus include corporate social advocacy, digital ethics, sustainability communication, advocacy, fake news and more. Other Center initiatives focus on educational opportunities like regular speaker series, oral history archiving and an online educational ethics module program that has reached more than 20,000 college students.
Visit the event page for registration, event and sponsorship information.