Mary Banwart

Ph.D., University of Oklahoma

Rhetoric & Political Communication

Dr. Mary Banwart is a professor in the Department of Communication Studies and the Associate Vice Provost for Faculty Development, Mentoring and Growth in the Office of Faculty Affairs. She is also the Program Director/PI for the Women’s Global Leadership Consortium. Prior to her current role she was the director of the KU Institute for Leadership Studies. She has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in political communication and leadership, and her research focuses both on political communication and the influence of gender in political campaigns, as well as the effects of leadership development programs on empowerment, civic engagement, and organizational efficacy. She has been awarded over $14 million in grant-funding to develop efforts that elevate women’s voices in civic spaces. In addition to journal articles and book chapters, she is the co-author of Gender and politics: Changing the face of civic life and Gender and political candidate communication: Videostyle, webstyle, and newsstyle, and is a co-editor of four books that explore political communication and elections.