Mary Banwart, Ph.D.

Dr. Mary Banwart is an Associate Vice Provost in the Office of Faculty Affairs and the Associate Director for the Institute for Leadership Studies. She is also the Program Director for the Women’s Global Leadership Consortium, a grant-funded program housed in the ILS, and is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication Studies. She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in political communication and leadership. Her primary research focuses on political communication and the influence of gender in political campaigns, studying how candidate identity and messaging are developed through political advertising, gendered socialization in voter responses to candidates, and the construction of candidate image. She also researches the effects of leadership development programs on empowerment, civic engagement, and organizational efficacy.