Dr. Patrick Parsons, Don Davis Professor in Ethics
Patrick Parsons has been named the inaugural holder of the Don Davis Professorship in Ethics in the College of Communications.

Parsons, who joined the Penn State faculty in 1985, served as head of the Department of Telecommunications from 2000-2003 and as interim associate dean for undergraduate education from 2003 until June 2005.

He holds an undergraduate and a master’s degree in journalism from California State University at Northridge and a Ph.D. in mass communication from the University of Minnesota. In addition to mass media ethics, he has taught cable and telecommunications, communication theory, communication law and policy, and broadcast journalism at Penn State.

His professional experience includes work as a newswriter, general assignment reporter, tape editor and associate news director for radio stations in Southern California and as city desk editor and general assignment reporter for the City News Service in Los Angeles.

He long has been active in academic organizations, including the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, where, at various times, he has been a member or officer of AEJMC’s mass communication and society division, radio-television division, media management and economics division, technology and policy division, and media ethics interest group. He a founding member of the Academic Research Session at the annual convention of the National Cable Television Association.

For more information, visit Dr. Patrick Parsons' Faculty Page.