Diana Knotts Martinelli, Ph.D.

Diana Martinelli is the Widmeyer Professor in Public Relations and associate dean in the WVU Reed College of Media. She earned a Ph.D. in mass communication from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and was the PRSSA faculty advisor at Ohio University before joining WVU in 2005. She’s a long-time member of PRSA and has served on national committees for the organization, as well as judged the Bateman competition and Silver and Bronze Anvil awards. For the last three years, she has helped select the PR Week Student of the Year.

Dr. Martinelli worked in radio, health care and government public relations before returning to school for her doctorate. Since then, she has continued to consult and collaborate on public communication projects while teaching and conducting research. She has been an advisory board member of the Plank Center for Leadership in Public Relations since 2012, and in 2014 was elected for membership in the Arthur W. Page Society, a professional association of senior corporate communications professionals and educators who seek to enrich the profession. In her spare time, she serves as the handler for the Reed College of Media’s therapy dog, Omega, and as the president of the Mountain State Rotary E-Club.