Kathy B. Richardson

Dr. Kathy Brittain Richardson became Westminster College’s 15th president on July 1, 2016.

Before coming to Westminster College, Richardson was provost and professor of communication at Berry College, Mt. Berry, Georgia. Richardson is an accomplished academic and impactful teacher, receiving many accolades including top faculty teaching, scholarship and leadership awards.

A highly regarded scholar, Richardson co-authored Media Ethics: Cases and Moral Reasoning, which is now in its 11th edition, and Applied Public Relations: Cases in Stakeholder Management, in its 3rd edition. Richardson served as editor of Journalism and Communication Monographs and was co-editor of the National Forensic Journal.

She is a member of the editorial board of Mass Communication & Society and the Journal of Mass Media Ethics. Richardson has published journal articles and book chapters in media ethics, product promotion, visual imagery, communication pedagogy and student-press regulation. In 2014, she was recognized as the Alumna Scholar of the Year by the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication of the University of Georgia.

Richardson is a member of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication and has served as head of the Mass Communication and Society Division. In 2012, she received the Professor of the Year award from the Small Programs Division of AEJMC.

She is serving as the 2021-22 Chair of the Association of Presbyterian Colleges and Universities and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Pennsylvania. A member of the Board of Directors of the Lawrence County Regional Chamber of Commerce, she is a member of the Executive Committee of the Forward Lawrence initiative.

Dr. Richardson earned a Bachelor of Arts in Communication and Religion/Philosophy, summa cum laude, from Shorter College, a master’s degree in journalism and a doctorate in mass communication from the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia. She completed additional graduate coursework in communication at the University of Oklahoma.