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Marcia DiStaso

Marcia DiStaso, Ph.D., APR

Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Research
Professor - Department of Public Relations

Office: 2024 Weimer

Phone: (352) 273-1222

Email: mdistaso@ufl.edu

Marcia DiStaso, Ph.D., APR

Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Research
Professor - Department of Public Relations

Dr. Marcia DiStaso, APR, is the Associate Dean of Graduate Studies and Research in the College of Journalism and Communications and a Professor in the Public Relations Department. She served as the Public Relations Department chair from 2017 to 2022 when she was promoted to Associate Dean of Research. She added leadership of the Graduate Studies Department in 2024.

Her current research primarily focuses on corporate purpose – or how companies create value for all stakeholders. Much of her past research has been on digital/social media, financial communication (internal and external communication for financial companies like banks) and investor relations (communication about financial topics of special interest to investors).

In 2021, DiStaso won the Institute for Public Relations’ Pathfinder Award, the organizations’ lifetime achievement honor recognizing significant and sustained contributions to the body of knowledge of public relations through published research. In 2020, she was selected as one of the PRNEWS Top Women in PR, and in 2019 she won the PRNEWS Educator of the Year Award and was elected into the PR Measurement Hall of Fame. In 2016, she won the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Educator of the Year Award. With her students, she has won a PRSA Silver Anvil Award of Excellence, a Hermes Creative Award, and MarCom Awards.

As a trustee for the Institute for Public Relations and past director of the Digital Media Research Center, she is extremely involved in the public relations industry. She is a member of the Page Society and served on the 2019-20 Global Alliance Board of Directors.

For 10 years, DiStaso worked as a faculty member at Penn State University and as a research consultant. She joined UF in July 2017.

Education

Ph.D., University of Miami
M.A. in Mass Communication, University of South Florida
B.S., in Economics, University of South Florida

News

Publications

Recent Refereed Journal Articles

Qin, Y., Distaso, M., Fitzsimmons, A.B., & Heffron, E. (2026). Communicating the Big Picture With Employees: The Impacts of CEO Vision Communication on Employee Engagement. International Journal of Business Communication, 63(2), 312–333. DOI: 10.1177/23294884231190387

Men, R., Qin, Y., Fitzsimmons, A.B., Distaso, M., & Heffron, E. (2026). An Integrated Framework for Exploring the Impact of Leadership Communication on Employee Trust During Disruptive Crisis Times. International Journal of Business Communication, 63(2), 595–621. DOI: 10.1177/23294884241226567

Qin, Y., Heffron, E., Distaso, M., & Fitzsimmons, A. (2023). Communicating the big picture with employees: The impacts of CEO Vision Communication on employee engagement.. International Journal of Business Communication.

Heffron, E., Men, R., Fitsimmons, A., Qin, Y., & Distaso, M. (2022). How purpose-driven organizations influence corporate actions and employee trust during the COVID-19 pandemic. International Journal of Strategic Communication, 16(3), 426–443.

Qin, Y., Distaso, M., Fitzsimmons, A., Heffron, E., & Men, R. (2022). How Purpose-Driven Organizations Influenced Corporate Actions and Employee Trust during the Global COVID-19 Pandemic. International Journal of Strategic Communication, 16(3), 426–443. DOI: 10.1080/1553118X.2022.2050239

Fitzsimmons, A.B., Qin, Y., Heffron, E., & Distaso, M. (2022). Purpose-driven corporate communication: A content analysis of Fortune 100 companies. Journal of Cultural Marketing Strategy, 6(2), 115. DOI: 10.69554/TFCL2677

Huang, Y., & Distaso, M. (2020). Responding to a Health Crisis on Facebook: The Effects of Response Timing and Message Appeal. Public Relations Review, 46(3), 101909. DOI: 10.1016/J.PUBREV.2020.101909

Distaso, M. (2019). Undergraduate public relations in the United States: The 2017 Commission on Public Relations Education Report. Journal of Public Relations Education, 5(3), 3–22.

Distaso, M. (2019). The future of corporate purpose: Delivering value to all stakeholders in the digital age. Public Relations Journal, 12(4).

Brummette, J., Distaso, M., Vafeiadis, M., & Messner, M. (2018). Read All About It: The Politicization of “Fake News” on Twitter. Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, 95(2), 497–517. DOI: 10.1177/1077699018769906

Books

DiStaso, M., Michaelson, D., & Gilfeather, J. (2017). A communication guide for investor relations in the age of activism. Business Expert Press.

DiStaso, M., & Bortree, D. (2014). Ethical practice of social media in public relations. Routledge.

Book Chapters

Fitsimmons, A., Heffron, E., Qin, Y., & DiStaso, M. (2022). Pinpointing, prioritizing, and practicing purpose. In Intercultural public relations: realities and reflections in practical contexts. Routledge.

DiStaso, M., Cornish, N., Sheffer, G., & Dodd, M. (2018). Introduction: Development of the CPRE report and 2016 omnibus survey. In Commission on PR Education, FAST FORWARD: The 2017 Report on Undergraduate Public Relations Education. .

McCorkindale, T., & DiStaso, M. (2018). The role of influencers: An analysis of social media discussion across platforms through a sustained crisis. In Social Media and Crisis Communication. Routledge.

DiStaso, M. (2018). Introduction - The New Era of the CCO: The Essential Role of Communications in a Volatile World. Business Expert Press.

DiStaso, M., & Amaral, C. (2017). Strategically disconnected: The great divide between what banks provide and what publics want on social media. In New media & public relations. Peter Lang.

McCorkindale, T., & DiStaso, M. (2013). The Power of Social Media and Its Influence on Corporate Reputation. In The Handbook of Communication and Corporate Reputation (pp. 497-512). Blackwell Publishing Ltd. DOI: 10.1002/9781118335529.ch40

Courses