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Mary Sterenberg

Mary Sterenberg

Mary Sterenberg

Assistant Professor of Practice

sterenberg.2@osu.edu

614-292-6185

Areas of Expertise

  • Public Relations
  • Writing
  • AP Style
  • Campaigns
  • Internships
  • Public Relations Student Society of America
  • Mentoring

Education

  • MA, Journalism (Ohio Northern University)
  • MS, Journalism (Ohio University)

Mary Sterenberg worked in health care public relations and newspaper and magazine journalism for 10 years before joining The Ohio State University as a lecturer of Strategic Communication.

She teaches Strategic Communication courses, serves on the Alumni Engagement Committee and co-advises the Public Relations Student Society of America chapter and its student-run public relations firm The PRactice at Ohio State. She teaches writing and public relations courses such as writing for strategic communication, strategic message design, strategic media planning and public communication campaigns. She was a finalist for the Provost’s Award for Distinguished Teaching by a Lecturer.

Beyond the classroom, she works closely with local employers to create internship and career pipelines for Ohio State communication students. She helped found an annual networking trip for students to New York City, taking more than 30 students each year to connect with alumni and tour organizations such as Edelman, IBM, VaynerMedia, Warner Music Group and Havas Media. She also supports communication for the School of Communication, managing an intern, social media and web content.

Mary freelances for Columbus CEO and the Columbus Dispatch and authored the open source textbook Write Like a PR Pro. She edited several books for Hyden Consulting and provided freelance editing support to clients such as AEP. She conducts trainings and speaks professionally on communication topic such as AP style, grammar, writing, persuasive communication, internship management, family communication and work-life balance. She co-founded SALT effect in 2018 to provide resources to help working moms grow stronger and happier families.  

Mary came to Ohio State in 2011 after serving as communications manager for the Ohio Hospital Association. During her time at OHA, she managed a daily email newsletter sent to thousands of hospital leaders, media and legislators, contributed to several statewide advocacy campaigns and launched the association’s social media presence on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Prior to her work at OHA, Mary worked in print news media.

Mary earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism from Ohio Northern University and her master’s degree in journalism from Ohio University. Email her at sterenberg.2@osu.edu or connect with her on Twitter (@maryIV) or LinkedIn.