Tina McCorkindale

Tina McCorkindale, Ph.D., APR, is the President and CEO of the Institute for Public Relations (IPR), an independent nonprofit foundation that focuses on research that matters to the public relations profession. Formerly, she was an Associate Professor of Public Relations at Appalachian State University and has taught at several universities, including Cal Poly Pomona, University of Vermont, and Ramkhamhaeng University in Bangkok, Thailand. She has taught in West Virginia University’s graduate IMC program since 2009. She has received numerous awards and honors for her teaching and research.

McCorkindale is the former director of IPR’s Social Science of Social Media Research Center. She is the past chair of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Educators Academy and former co-chair of the PRSA National Research Committee. She is a member of the Arthur W. Page Society, the PRSA MBA Program committee, the Commission for Public Relations Education, and the International Public Relations Research Conference Advisory Committee. She serves as the National Faculty Adviser for the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA), and is a director on the Universal Accreditation Board.

Her research broadly focuses on social media with specializations in mobile technologies, engagement, and reputation. She has more than 30 academic publications in books and journals such as Public Relations Review, Journal of New Communications Research, Public Relations Journal, Journal of Social Media in Society, Research Journal of the Institute for Public Relations, Journal of Hospitality and Leisure Marketing, Teaching Public Relations Monograph, Global Media Journal — Canadian Edition, Journal of Promotion Management, International Journal of Nonprofit Sector and Voluntary Marketing, and Feedback. She has presented more than 60 papers and panels at conferences, and has won awards and grants for her research, including top paper awards and three Arthur W. Page Center grants. She is on the editorial review board of the Public Relations Journal, Research Journal for Institute for Public Relations, and Communication Research Reports.

McCorkindale has nearly 10 years of experience working in corporate communication and as a senior research analyst with Cymfony, Visible Technologies and Cision. She has experience working with enterprise-level clients in various verticals including technology, insurance, pharmaceutical, transportation, and financial services. She also served as the Director of Communication for Team Réciprocité in the Solar Decathlon Europe 2014 competition in Versailles, France, that challenged teams from universities around the world to build an independent, solar-powered home.

McCorkindale received her bachelor’s degree in journalism and a minor in marketing from the University of Southern Mississippi, a master’s degree in corporate and public communication from the University of South Alabama, and her Ph.D. in communication from the University of Miami. She lives in Seattle, Washington.