Amanda Stageman, a Masters student studying communications at Marquette University, is this year’s winner of the Grunig PRIME Research Fellowship. The fellowship, named for James E. Grunig, Ph.D., and Larissa A. Grunig, Ph.D., is presented by the Institute for Public Relations and sponsored by PRIME Research.

Stageman will be completing her six-week fellowship in the PRIME Research offices in Ann Arbor, MI. She will receive a $5,000 stipend and will author a paper on how colleges and universities are using social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, to engage and recruit prospective students.

“We are thrilled to have Amanda Stageman as the second recipient of the Grunig PRIME Research Fellowship, said Mark Weiner, CEO for PRIME Research in North America. “The Fellowship aims to foster interest in public relations research as a career path; Fellows take an active role in providing research-based consulting for PRIME’s global clients.”

“We congratulate both Amanda Stageman and PRIME Research for what we believe will be a mutually beneficial relationship,” said Jim Grunig. “Selected from a strong field of applicants for the 2010 PRIME Fellowship, Ms. Stageman will glimpse life inside one of the world’s premier research operations.”

Lauri Grunig added: ” To PRIME, Ms. Stageman brings an academic understanding of both qualitative and quantitative methods. Her graduate program at Marquette University has prepared her well for the challenges of applied research. We expect the relationship between PRIME staff and its clients and Ms. Stageman to endure long past their six weeks together in Ann Arbor.”

The Grunigs are professors emeriti in the Department of Communication at the University of Maryland, College Park. Together they have written or edited 10 books. Each has written more than 200 articles, book chapters, monographs, reviews, and conference papers on public relations theory and research. They have lectured in 43 countries, won nearly every major award for public relations educators, and advised hundreds of masters and doctoral students.

PRIME Research, founded in 1985 in Mainz, Germany, provides a broad array of research and consulting services, employing approximately 500 analysts and 100 consultants in eight locations around the world. To learn more, visit www.prime-research.com.

The Institute for Public Relations is an independent non-profit foundation which bridges the academic and professional fields, supporting public relations research and mainstreaming this knowledge into practice. More information is available at instituteforpr.org.

Heidy Modarelli handles Growth & Marketing for IPR. She has previously written for Entrepreneur, TechCrunch, The Next Web, and VentureBeat.
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